Kingdom Hearts: Light Of Nome
by Animatic Psychopath
Summary: Taking place after the battle of 1000 heartless in Kingdom Hearts 2,Sora Donald and Goofy come across a seemingly peaceful town. However a terrible darkness has been unleashed by Organization 13 and threatens to destroy the town's children. Now Sora must team up with a Wolf Dog hybrid to find a way to save the children.
1. Chapter 1:Frozen Wasteland

Kingdom Hearts:Light Of Nome

Chapter 1:Wasteland

Sora had been broken to a means no one could have imagined,all the things he's done had all been for nothing as his quest to save the worlds from the heartless and nobodies had all but been a means to unknowingly serve Organization 13. And to make things worse,Kairi the person he had thought was safe was now in the clutches of the organization with no clear way to save her or find their base of operations. Donald and Goofy had noticed Sora's depressed face as they were looking for new worlds on the gummi ship and they tried to remind Sora of their rule.

"Come on Sora,this boat runs on happy faces." Goofy said in a playful yet simultaneously serious tone as Donald agreed with a loud "Yeah!"

Sora remembering this replied with "Oh sorry,some of this stuff has been getting to me." but soon he went back to his happy old self as he saw another world on the horizon,hoping for it to take his mind off things. Strangely it was a world they hadn't seen before,but that only made them excited to see new people and maybe just maybe some clues as to where Riku may be.

As they got closer and closer to the world the outer space they had been flying in was slowly turning into a clear blue sky with not a single cloud to be found. Finding a landing spot was very easy as all they had found was a white patch of land stretching as far as the eye could see. All three of them went "Whoah!" as they stared off into the horizon,gawking at the utter lack of life before eventually getting out of the ship.

* * *

As soon as they stepped outside Sora held and folded his arms and screamed "ITS COLD!"

"Guess your too used to the beach." Goofy replied.

"Hey islander what can i say." Sora playfully retorted but that playfulness turned to relief when in the distance he could see some buildings.

"Hey look,a town. Maybe there's some people we could talk to and find out where we are. Sora said to the duck and dog but afterwards they jumped when they heard a gunshot.

"What was that?!" Goofy shouted holding Donald,Sora whipped out the keyblade as he started to examine his surroundings. Soon he saw what looked to be two dog sleds coming right towards them as he shouted "LOOK OUT!" while he pushed Donald and Goofy out of the way,with the sled driver shouting "GET OUT OF THE ROAD YOU FREAKS!"

"THERE IS NO ROAD!" Sora shouted back but alas,the driver could not hear him.

"Are you guys alright?" Sora asked Donald and Goofy.

"Did you really have to do that?" Donald whimpered as he rubbed his cheek in pain.

"Hey what do you suppose that was about? A gunshot and two dog sleds. Hmmm" Sora pondered.

"Maybe they are doing a race." Goofy replied.

"Huh?" Sora said in confusion.

"Back in Disneytown we would often do races at the speedway. They would use gunshots to signal parts of the race." Donald told Sora.

"Oh,they were heading for the town. Why don't we stop by there? Plus i wanna tell off that sled driver." Sora asked.

They all agreed as they got in the gummi ship to head towards the town,unaware that in the distance Siax was watching them as he snapped his fingers to conjure Dusks that he sent towards the town.

* * *

Sora was glad to be back in the gummi with it's warmth and relief from the freezing cold,however that feeling didn't last very long as they had soon arrived at the outskirts of the town.

They got out of the ship to be welcomed once again by freezing cold temperatures that made Sora regret not asking the three good fairies for a winter outfit. As he was trying to find some warmth he noticed the silence and lack of people,they were in the outskirts granted but the silent dark alleyways made them feel slightly unnerved.

But soon Sora remembered the race as he brought it up to the cowering Donald and goofy.

"Hey maybe the town is watching the race,probably in the middle. Let's check it out."

"Right behind you." Goofy said as Donald hid behind them with staff in hand obviously looking out for danger.

As they were heading to their destination Sora looked up to the rooftops of the buildings that towered above them,for he had sworn he had heard 2 voices. One had a accent,russian by the sound of it,and the other sounded clearer that made it easier for Sora to understand.

He brushed it aside as as people in a room with a window and continued to his destination.

"This place sure is creepy." a shivering Donald muttered.

"Sure is spooky without anyone around." Goofy agreed.

While they were discussing their usual conversations they had stopped talking when they heard voices again,but this time it sounded like a little girl and two other people who sounded much older. Sora peeped around the corner to see a little girl with a beige hat and black coat with a purple scarf,two people most likely her parents were watching happily.

When Sora saw that girl it reminded him of Kairi,the red hair,the bright hipper face that reminded him of his last days on the islands,and the utter joy and energy she had. She even kinda sounded like her,there was also a dog there as well it was a lovely dog with red and white fur and a red scarf around it's neck as it happily played with the girl before her parents called her to where they were.

"Rosie! Come here!" the man yelled while the mother added "We have something for you!"

"Come on Jenna!" Rosie told the dog as she and Jenna ran off to her parents.

"Rosie." Sora whispered to Donald and Goofy,unaware that he was blushing.

"Uh Sora are you alright? How come your face is all red?" Donald asked.

Sora hearing this,quickly said "Nothing." in a attempt to hide what he was thinking about but Donald and Goofy had seen right through it.

"She reminds you of Kairi doesn't she?" Goofy asked but Sora suddenly heard cheering and used this as an excuse to change the subject. "Hey we must be close to the race. Come on!" he said as he started to run towards the commotion. They had soon reached a large crowd of people cheering and applauding,however because there was so many people,the group couldn't see anything. "How bout we go on a rooftop,we can see the race up there." Goofy wondered. They all agreed and they split up to find a good spot or ladder until Sora bumped into a figure. "Oh sorry about that do you" Sora paused when he saw that it wasn't a person but a dog and a goose.

The dog looked like a combination of a wolf and a dog,it had grey rugged fur with orange eyes that certainly looked threatening but when he looked in its eyes Sora saw nothing of the sort. The dog was backing away from him in a scared manner,almost as if had been abused or pushed away. But it had stopped when Sora held out his hand to pet him,the dog's face turned into one of curiosity as it slowly but surely walked up to the boys hand.

* * *

"It's alright,I'm not gonna hurt you." Sora said in a calming voice. The dog was soon being rubbed by Sora as it was clearly enjoying it and smiling. Sora was scratching its ear and all the other stuff people with dogs do.

"You don't have an owner do you?" Sora asked and in response the dog nodded its head. "I'm sorry." Sora replied but he tried to spin it in a positive. "Hey I'm gonna be in town for a while,maybe after the race I can show you my friends?" After that something unexpected happened,the dog barked to signal that he was down for it but instead of a bark Sora heard the words "Sure thing." Immediately he jumped back and yelled "Ahhhh! You talk!?" the dog also jumped back too "You understand me."

They were staring at each other for at least a minute in confusion before Sora heard Donald call him from atop a building signaling that they had found a spot. Sora got up and started climbing before looking down and saying "Uh my names Sora. See you after the race?"

"Balto,and…..yeah!" The dog responded back before the goose said to Sora "This better not be a prank you spikey haired weasel." before they ran off to find their own spot. Sora was having a lot of confusing thoughts,he could talk to dogs and geese now in this seemingly normal world. Once he reached the top of the building Donald and Goofy were looking down at the ground as they had a perfect view of the race,in fact one of the sled dogs was almost back in town.

"Uh guys,I was talking to a dog earlier. He looked normal until I asked him if I could show him you guys after the race and he started talking. Is it possible that this world could be allowing us to talk to animals?" Sora asked.

Donald replied with "The worlds have different rules and limitations to outsiders compared to its people. So this world is probably allowing us to talk with them because we're outsiders."

"Oh." Sora replied with relief. "His name was Balto. He looked like he has had a very hard time. I wonder why."

Soon the sled had reached the town as Sora was excitingly watching the crowd,but he stopped when he noticed Rosie had lost her hat. The wind blew it out of her hand and it had landed right in the middle of the road. Balto,who saw what happened rushed onto the road to retrieve it before the dog sled tore it apart. He was a little ways behind the dog sled in the position of the crowd but he was a fast dog,as he has quickly made it to the front but the lead dog had noticed. It was a vicious looking dog,with pitch black fur,razor sharp teeth,and dark blue eyes.

"Outta my way Lobo!" The dog shouted,Balto ignored him and smiled as he reached and grabbed the hat as the dog tried to bite him,but he had jumped over his head so he could land and grab the hat just in time. The goose that was accompanying Balto and was watching him in the crowd yelled "WHEN WILL YOU LEARN TO STAY ON THE SIDELINES?!" before being covered in snow from the sled,Sora having seen the whole thing yelled "Yeah! Go Balto!" caring more about him than the race now. The audience roared with cheers and applause,not for Balto of course but for the team that won the race.

Meanwhile Balto had approached Rosie to give her the hat as she said "What a crazy thing to do just to show off to a pretty girl." Balto seeing that Jenna was there,simply smiled at her as she started to slightly smile towards her. Rosie seeing the kindness in Balto tried to pet him but her dad was pulling her away, "Stay away from him,he might bite you. He's part wolf." Balto started to back off sadly and walk away with Rosie looking back in sadness too.

* * *

Soon the black dog was tailing Jenna in a obvious attempt to hit on her which obviously failed. The black dog's name was Steele,he was the town hero to the other dogs and humans. He loved having the spotlight on him and would do anything to make sure he was seen as number one by the town,in fact he knocked the other dog sled off course while they were racing so he kinda cheated. Jenna was the only one who saw Steele for who he truly is,a disgusting,ego stroking psychopath who cares little for what another dog actually wants in a relationship as long as they just ramble on about how "amazing" he is. One thing that made Jenna look back in frustration was when Steele said "Oh,maybe your taste leans a little more toward wolf?"

Sora and the group were starting to slowly climb down the building when they heard screaming come from the crowd. They went back to the top to see what was going on and as they had feared it was a group of Nobodies. Dusks,Samurai,Beserkers,and Dancers. "Nobodies!" They all shouted while the crowd were starting to panic as they were starting to attack people. Sora saw that a dusk was about to attack Rosie and Jenna so he took no chances and jumped right off the building to dive down. As he was reaching the ground he pulled out the keyblade,froze in mid air so he could land with a shock wave attack that instantly killed the dusk. Rosie saw this in confusion as to what this key was but Sora had told her to "Get outta here! We'll handle this!" Rosie agreed to this but Jenna chose to stay behind to protect her owner.

Sora was examining his surroundings thinking of a way to defeat the nobodies quickly and efficiently when he heard a familiar voice yell "Sora!" It was Balto's voice as Sora hadn't noticed that a Samurai was about to perform Zansetzuekn on him but Balto had jumped right through it with his claws and teeth before he could perform the attack.

"Hey Balto!" Sora said to the dog, "Jenna get outta here,protect Rosie! Balto said to the other dog as she ran off to find Rosie, Sora was soon using attacks like magnet spiral and explosion to make mince meat out of the dusks. Balto meanwhile was cutting right through the samurais as he used his teeth to grab hold of their swords and use them against them. The dancers weren't a big issue as Sora used magnet to pull them together and obliterate them all at once with a thunder spell. All that was left were the beserkers,Sora teamed up with Balto to perform a ice attack that caused a big snowstorm to appear and freeze the beserkers in place. Sora went into limit form to use strike raid while Balto would kick the keyblade in multiple directions so it would smash the beserkers. All of the nobodies have been defeated and the townspeople started to come out of the shadows alleyways but it wasn't completely safe as Saix had appeared out of a dark portal where everyone could see him. Sora didn't see him until he said "Your doing very well Sora."

Sora turned around and yelled "You! Tell me where Kairi is now!" as he ran to try and attack but before he could Saix used his lander to push him back.

"You will see your dear friend in due time. Right now,just continue to defeat those heartless,speaking of which." He said as he turned around to look at the scared townspeople "We know very well how to destroy a heart and unleash the beast that lies within us all. To demonstrate." He said as a immense amount of darkness came out of the portal and in a instant poured itself into all the children including Rosie.

Sora noticing this demanded "What did you do? What did you do to them?!" Saix clearly getting off on his anger simply smiled and replied with "Let your anger grow,turn that anger and rage and turn it into your power to destroy the impending heartless." As he started to disappear,Sora shouted "Wait! Come back here!" as he jumped at him but just barely missing. Sora having lost his way to Kairi again screamed in frustration as he banged his fist on the ground again and again as the town and Balto,the town,and all the other dogs just watched in fear and confusion.

* * *

Meanwhile in The World That Never Was,Saix had returned to report to Lord Xemnas.

"It is done,soon all the children of that town will have no choice but to embrace their darkness and the heartless will be unleashed."

"Good. The town of nome has a light that shines very bright,but it takes little to dim it. Sora will soon have thoughts that plague his mind with dread. He doesn't want to face the truth that they will all become heartless and that dread will turn into his power to destroy. Xemnas replied.

Saix however looked down the chairs in a intrigued manner,Xemnas noticing this confronted him about it. "What troubles you Saix."

"The wolf dog,he has a incredible light,however he also possesses a great darkness. He would make a excellent asset to the Organization."

* * *

 _Author's Notes_

This is the first part of a crossover I've really wanted to do. Balto is one of my favorite animated movies and I seriously wish it would get more attention. I also think that if this was a Disney film that it could work very well within Kingdom Hearts. This is going to be split up into chapters how many? I don't know. Stay tuned for chapter 2 and I really hope you enjoy this. Writing this has been very easy as i have already written this on Kingdom Hearts Amino and I also wanted to post this on


	2. Chapter 2:Dread

Kingdom Hearts: Light Of Nome

Chapter 2:Dread

The rest of the day was not very pleasant for the town of Nome. What was supposed to be a wonderful day to remember turned into one filled with dread,fear,and confusion. One by one parents took their kids to the doctor in hopes of figuring out what had happened to their children,but each and every time they were met with no answers. Sora was still standing alone in the street with Balto,he had no idea what was going or what those white things were,or who this Kairi was but he knew he had to comfort Sora. He walked up to him and said" Hey Sora,where are your friends?" "Oh" Sora remembered "I forgot about that,they should be around here somewhere."

"Donald! Goofy!" Sora shouted to get their possible attention but to no avail.

"I know a place they might be." Balto said as he looked over to the shore. Over there was a abandoned and washed up boat and Sora knew that Balto thought they might have been there. Before they proceeded to the shore 3 people approached them,it was Rosie and her parents who looked pleased and confused.

"Greetings,our daughter told us you saved her from those white creatures. She would be gone if not for you,is there any way we can repay you?"

"Um,can you tell us what's been going on with the kids? And maybe a place we can stay,I think we'll be here for a while."

"Ever since that hooded man infected Rosie and the other kids,she has been acting strange. She has gotten a fever and a very bad cough. It's almost as if all the happiness she usually had is completely gone." Sora shuddered when he heard that,for he had realized that this was gonna turn into something terrible,he knew those kids were gonna become heartless but he didn't want to tell anyone. He didn't want them to worry more than they already had to,and they certainly didn't know what a heartless was.

* * *

"As for where you can stay,you can stay with us until you take your leave,it's the least we could do." Sora smiled and said "Thanks a lot,but we got somewhere to go,we'll be back later" He and Balto then headed for the shore,but as they were walking down the alleyway they were stopped by others that Balto was more accustomed to in the worst way possible. 4 dogs to be precise one of which was Steele,the other 3 were Nikki,Kaltag,and Star. Nikki was a chubbier than usual dog,he had brown fur and brownish stripes on his back combined with black eyes. Kaltag was skinnier compared to Nikki and instead of brown fur he had yellow fur and the same black eyes. Star was a complete odd ball and he was the skinniest of the trio and he had grey fur along with black eyes too. He constantly had his tongue hanging out and whenever he spoke he sounded like he was on the verge of laughing like a hyena,much to the annoyance of others.

"Didn't make the team Bingo" Steele said in a playful yet bigotry voice.

"It's Balto." he replied with a sense of annoyance.

"I'm sorry Balto,Balto the half breed." he said as he walked around the wolf dog with a evil smile. Meanwhile Sora was just staring at the dogs while they continued to joke about Balto but soon it turned to harassment.. Steele noticed Sora and thinking he couldn't understand what they were saying,jokes to Balto "I suppose your friend over there is part porcupine." as him and the other dogs laughed at the remark to Sora's embarrassment.

"Great word play boss." Nikki exclaimed while Kaltag very quickly remarked "You are the quickest,the wittiest,the drollest,the sharpest,the most hilarious-" but before he could finish Star butted in shouting "You crack me up!" before he started laughing uncontrollably before Kaltag bopped him on the head.

"Hey knock it off." Sora said to the dogs which caused them to jump at the realization.

"Well looks like we got ourselves another freak over here." Steele remarked

"We are not freaks!" Sora shouted before Balto butted in saying "Steele. Just leave him out of this." Steele ignored his request and proceeded to brush Balto's face with his tail before saying "Oh Balto,I have a message for your mother." and proceeded to howl in the air like a wolf which got the other dogs to laugh before they started howling too.

Sora just said "Come on Balto,let's leave these guys to their games." but Balto just stared at them before he started to growl and grit his teeth together. "Balto?" Sora asked but he just kept growling until he started to walk towards them.

Things were not looking good as Balto's eyes started to glow shades of amber and darkness started to flow out of his mouth. "Balto snap out of it!" Sora yelled but Balto payed no attention,his inner hatred towards the town and the dogs was becoming his inner darkness. Sora pulled on his tail but that didn't stop him as he kept walking. Soon his teeth and paws started to grow into razor sharp claws and teeth,and his grey fur was now becoming pitch black while his eyes formally orange were now glowing yellow with no pupils. The dogs soon noticed and showed no fear,at least Steele did as they just barked at him over and over.

"Get out of here wolf dog. Get back to your pack!" Steele said before he spat on Balto's nose. Sora jumped in front of him and pushed him back but he kept moving forward. "Come on Balto! Your better than this!. I know you are! Don't let them win!" Balto slowly but surely reverted back to his normal appearance,it was almost as if Sora comforting him had brought him back to his sense of normality. Soon Balto's angry malice filled smile was now turned into a sad frown as the dogs turned around and kicked lots of snow onto them. They soon managed to get away but not before Sora got hit in the head with a rock they threw.

"Half wolf in the side pocket there." Nikki and them laughed while Steele walked off leaving them alone. After he did however their true opinions about him soon came out.

"That son of a-" Nikki said before being interrupted by Kaltag ranting "He is the most malicious,the most disqusting,the most obnoxious,the most repulsive,the most revolting-" "He's no lap dog." Star interrupted and chuckled before Kaltag growled at him with his fist in the air until Star gave himself the beating,much to Kaltag and Nikki's confusion.

* * *

It was nearing sunset as Sora and Balto had long passed the outskirts of the town were near the shore. "I'm glad to be away from those jerks. I don't know why you stay here when they treat you so horribly." Sora said while Balto just hung his head in shame. Soon his nose perked up when he caught a scent,on the hill above them there was a wolf pack that just stared at them. The wolf pack howled while Balto backed away while looking very uncertain as Sora gave a long glance at the wolves. Eventually Balto walked off while Sora thought to himself "Poor Balto,I wish there was some way we could help him."

Soon they reached the ship and they were relived to hear voices,they heard a goose's voice but they also heard Donald and Goofy's. "Hey it's them! Donald! Goofy!" Sora shouted. Donald,Goofy,and the goose jumped out of the ship to happily greet their friends with a hug,well except for the goose since he didn't know Sora.

"Where on earth did you go? We couldn't find you anywhere!" Goofy asked. "Well I had to some nobodies and bullies to deal with."

"Don't go running off like that again." Donald said in a relived voice. The goose meanwhile was very pleased to see Balto as he gave him a very affectionate hug but Balto paid no attention to it as he got up on the boat to be alone.

The goose turned around to the boy and asked "And you are?" to which Sora said "Uh it's Sora,we met in the alleyway remember? And these are my ,and Goofy." "Oh,it's porcupine boy. Looks like the circus has arrived early,now pardon me but I have a dog to cheer up. Good day,and it's Borris." He said before Sora quickly replied "Hey he's my friend too,let me help."

After many many failed attempts to cheer up Balto including a magic chow by Donald and a dance by Borris,they eventually just sat down by the dog who simply hid under a blanket by himself.

"Uncle Borris!" 2 very loud and obnoxious voices could be heard in the distance which caused Borris to jump up in fear.

"What was that?" Donald asked but soon two polar bears had jumped on the ship which caused it to shake like an earthquake. One was a very large and very fat bear with a pink nose that never spoke and only communicated via noises. The other was a much smaller bear with a black nose and was the only one who talked and thus was the other bear's translator. Soon Donald found himself being bear hugged by them thinking that he was Borris with clothes on.

"Put me down! Put me down!" He shouted which soon caused the bears to put him down which caused Donald to get very dizzy and fall off the boat. "Muk and Luk. How wonderful to see you." Borris said in a sarcastic tone before being given Donald's hug treatment while Luk said "We love you uncle Borris!"

"Uncle?" Sora asked in a confused voice.

"I don't know why either." Balto replied in a cheerful tone,for the arrival of the bears had managed to cheer him up slightly. In an attempt to get away from the bears,Borris said to them "Um why don't we play a game? Race you to the shore!" He shouted as the bears jumped off the ship,however before he could relax they heard screaming and ran off to see what was going on.

Sora,Donald,and Goofy whipped out their weapons thinking it was heartless or nobodies but soon put them away in annoyance when they saw that the bears were splashing in a puddle thinking they were drowning. Donald and Borris had a very annoyed look on their faces as they tried to tell the bears that they were making fools of themselves.

"Muk! Luk! Your not drowning." Balto said to them as Luk had noticed Donald an Borris's reflection in the water. Donald got them out when he cast blizzard which froze the puddle.

* * *

It was Twilight and Balto was staring off into the town before Sora walked up to him. "I'm getting hungry,we're gonna go into town and get some food. You want us to bring you something?" Sora asked,but Balto had just replied with "I'm coming too,there's someone I want to see." It took a minuet for Sora to figure out he was talking about Jenna.

"You really like Jenna don't you?" Sora asked with a smile.

"She wouldn't be into someone like me."

"That's a lie and you know it,just go to her and be yourself. If your worried about those other dogs,I'll be there too."

"Thanks Sora." Balto said before they headed out into town. Donald and Goofy had fallen asleep with Muk,Luk,and Borris.

Meanwhile Rosie was in a waiting room at the doctor while Jenna watched in dread. Balto and Sora soon walked up to her and Balto tried to cheer her up.

"Hey Jenna."

"Hey Balto."

"You wanna go fetch some bones?"

"I'm fine?"

"What's wrong with Rosie?" Balto asked as he jumped up to the window.

"She's been very sick,ever since that hooded man came she's been different." This caused Sora to get worried,he really didn't want to think about what was coming. He knew the kids would become heartless and by defeating them,he would only be helping the Organization.

"Jenna,this is Sora. He was the one who saved you and Rosie." Jenna turned around to see Sora waving at her.

"Thank you Sora,I don't know what would have happened if you and Balto weren't there. Can you tell me what's going on?" Sora made up a lie saying he didn't know which caused Jenna to hang her head on the window.

"Jenna,there's something I wanna show you." Balto said while Jenna raised up as she and Sora followed Balto to a door,unfortunately it was locked although it was no problem for Sora as he just unlocked it with the keyblade. They were now in what appeared to be a boiler room with a fireplace,soon Balto found a hatch that led under the building although Sora couldn't fit.

"Hey guys I can't fit."

"It's ok,you can watch for any danger." Balto said back. Balto and Jenna were soon under the buildings which was covered with dust and spiderwebs,they reached a pile of broken glass bottles of different colors. There was a bit of light from a room they were under that made it possible to see,Balto was moving and arranging the bottles while telling Jenna "These are the polar ice caps." While Jenna just said "Balto-" before the light caused the bottles to shine a beautiful arrangement of colors on the wall that heavily resembled the northern lights.

"It's wonderful." Jenna said to which Balto simply replied with "Yeah."

* * *

Meanwhile Sora was sitting alone warming himself by the fire still not getting used to the cold. He sighed when he heard the door creak open,he panicked thinking it was someone who caught them but had a sigh of relief and dread at the same time when he saw it was Steele with a long line of sausages around his neck.

"Oh it's the half breed. You know you had some guts standing up for that wolf dog,you're just lucky I was in a good mood."

"I had to stand up for Balto,the way you guys treat him is horrible."

"Comes with the territory of being a half breed,anyway where is Jenna? Don't lie to me because I saw you and that wolf dog with her. Where did she go?" Steele demanded but Sora kept silent because he could tell meant business with Jenna,and if he found out that she had a leaning towards Balto and not him it wouldn't be pretty.

"I'd like to remind you that I am also in a good mood tonight,don't change that." Sora was still silent hoping that Steele would leave but just when he was about Jenna and Balto had come out of their spot to Steele's amusement.

"Jenna,join me for dinner." Steele said in a slimy voice. Jenna was obviously not down with dating a repulsive,ego stroking mutt like that,so she decided to play dumb while she subtly gave Sora and Balto hints about what to do.

Jenna eye signaled Balto to open the fireplace and for Sora to quietly get a new going until eventually burning his backside which caused him to howl loudly. In a rage Steele tackled Sora and Balto through the door which caused some people to investigate. Sora,Balto,and Jenna tried to escape but Steele threw the sausages onto Sora and Balto,framing them. The people chases Sora and Balto out of the town while they held Jenna back as she yelled "Sora! Balto! Run!" to which Steele gave off a evil smile as they ran off.

Once the coast was clear Sora and Balto rested on a stump to catch their breath.

* * *

"Man that Steele really gets on my nerves." Sora complained

"Quite the understatement for me." Balto agreed

"Hey Balto,what'd you show Jenna?"

"It wasn't anything special,I thought I could cheer her up but we were right under the doctor,we heard everything. The doctors don't know what's going on but they are doing a race to pick dogs to get a box of medicine a few towns away. I'm going to join in,I want to help Rosie,to help Jenna."

Sora smiled and said "That's very thoughtful. I may tag along,I kinda want to get away from this town."

"Me too Sora,me too" Balto said as they stared at the stars.

 _End of Chapter 2._


	3. Chapter 3: Complications

Kingdom Hearts Light Of Nome

Chapter 3:Complications

After their frankly disastrous escapade in the town that night,Sora was getting fed up with the town's attitude towards Balto. He had no idea why Balto would stay in this place when they treated him so terribly just for being different. As they continued to stare at the stars Sora took a look at Balto and asked with a concerned tone "Balto,I've seen what you have to go through here. Why do you stay here when they treat you like that?"

Balto's happy energetic smile turned into a frown as he got up and sat by the edge of the hill they were on and hung his head. He sighed somberly and confessed his reasoning to Sora "I never knew my parents,ever since they left or whatever,it's been just me and Borris. Because I'm a half breed,no one wants me. No one…...wants to be near me. All except for Jenna,she's been what's kept me here,she's the only dog who can look past...this and actually care for me." Balto started to get more and more uplifted as he let his feelings out and soon he turned to Sora and said "You know I'm...I'm actuslly glad you'll listen to me too. Thanks Sora."

"No problem Balto. You know I think we should get back to the boat,it's starting to snow. Plus you need to rest for your big race tomorrow.

"You too if you're coming with us. If Borris sees me gone again he'll never let me hear the end of it."

* * *

The next morning they got up very early so Balto could do practice runs across the frozen wasteland,so Sora could try and get used to the cold by staying in it for a while,and for them to practice fighting together incase they come across those monsters again,of course with Sora not telling Balto about what they were. It was starting to become dawn as all the townspeople gathered to see another race by the town's finest dogs,it was a fairly cloudy morning as the sun was giving off a pink shade to the ground and the clouds that loomed above them.

All the dogs sat up straight like army men so Steele could walk past and inspect them for proper appearances. Since Steele was already seen as the town hero,he was already guaranteed to be on the team so there was no need for him to race. Meanwhile Jenna was watching along with another dog,this was a smaller dog than her,Steele,Balto,or the other dogs in general,along with white and purple fluffy fur. This was Dixie,she was a complete fangirl for Steele who would always try and get on his good side but would only get a tail brush along with all the other female dogs.

"Just look at him. He's gonna save the whole town then return here to the finish line. He's positively...magnesium." She said confidently to which Jenna replied "It's not exactly a one-dog show Dixie. They're racing to see who's gonna be on the dog sled team."

"What's with you,Jenna? Steele's a genuine hero. But do you give him a sniff?"

"That's because Jenna is running with Balto." Another dog interrupted to the shock of was a much taller dog than either of them,she had white and brown fur with very long ears. Sylvie was just as much a fangirl for Steele as Dixie was,but she wasn't as energetic as Dixie and was more of a slow talker.

"She was seen in the boiler room the other night with Balto and some other boy with a giant key. They went in together and they left together. I heard it from a very reliable source and don't bother to deny it."

"Well then I won't." Jenna admitted to a still shocked Dixie and even surprised Sylvie as she whispered "I'm speechless."

"All mushers get your dog's ready! The race is about to begin!" The referee shouted as out in the distance Balto,Sora,and the others were examining the lineup.

"Wait Balto! Racing is a spectator sport. It requires very little preparation. You sit,you arrange refreshments. You like Potato chip?" Borris tried to discourage Balto while he ate a soap flake he thought was a chip while Sora continued to encourage Balto to race.

"Come on Balto,you get out there and show those dogs who's boss. In fact I think you could get the medicine back here all by yourself." Sora said to which Balto agreed "Sora's right Borris,I'm not watching the race. I'm running it."

"You said what?!" Borris exclaimed while Balto retorted "Hey look me and Sora want to help Rosie get better. We can get the medicine through." He said this in a very determined tone as he practiced jumping on a fence but Borris was not impressed.

"First,they wouldn't put you in a sled team even if you did win which won't happen. And if it did,it wouldn't matter."

"Borris. Did you ever think maybe you're the reason the other geese fly south?" Sora asked while Balto and the others laughed in agreement to Borris's annoyance "If only your feet were as fast as your mouths."

Balto turned his head away once he heard a whistle blow and a man say "Dogs to the line!"

"They're starting. Good luck Balto!" Sora exclaimed when Balto ran off to head to the starting line while Borris retorted "Luck? I only wish you sense! Good luck kiddo." as he stared off at the dog.

* * *

Sora was with Donald and Goofy as they jumped back onto a building to see the race since it was still just as crowded as the day they came here.

"Do you think he's gonna win?" Goofy asked to which Sora replied "Of course he will,he's Balto. Part of me really wishes we could take him to a better world. The way they treat him here is horrible."

"You know we can't do that Sora." Donald said as Sora realized this and just hung his head but he got enthusiastic again once he saw that Balto had got in the starting line. However Sora got nervous when he saw that he was by Nikki and Kaltag,he thought those dogs were no good bullies that brought out Balto's inner darkness the day before and that they'd try to do something.

"Balto?! What are you nuts? Steele catches you here he's gonna turn you into kibble!" Kaltag exclaimed as he strangely showed genuine concern for Balto while the other dogs looked at him with confusion and Nikki simply stated "Let the half-dog run. It will be fun making him eat our snow." Balto paid no attention to this as the referee shot the gun that signified that the race had started.

Instantly all the dogs bolted off at a incredible speed but Jenna had noticed Balto he joined and Dixie just wondered what he was doing there. Balto was a little ways behind Nikki and Kaltag but he was starting to catch up as they huddled together to block him. Balto however tried to to cut in by Nikki's right side and managed to catch up to them,they were directly tied for first,second,and third place. Sora and the others were watching with a mixture of excitement and worry but Sora always kept a enthusiastic grin as he shouted "Go Balto!" while Borris and the others eventually joined in.

The three dogs were right on each other's tails as they reached a lake area,Nikki being the bully he was,kicked Balto off the track and onto the ice,but since they were out of view of the people no one saw…..except for Sora,Donald,Goofy,and Borris. "Hey that's cheating!" Sora yelled to which Borris agreed "That was a foul! Where's the referee? Is he blind?"

Balto was sliding everywhere but he eventually stopped as he was long behind the other dogs but he didn't give up. Luckily for him he stopped in front of a set of wooden pillars that were frozen in the ice,he got up and managed to climb and jump on the pillars as the others as well as Jenna who had followed the dogs cheered on.

"Go Balto!" Jenna and Borris shouted as Sora thinking to himself that if the dogs could cheat,they could. When he saw that the dogs were getting close to the finish line and that Balto was catching up,he got an idea. As Balto continued to jump on the pillars to reach the land,Sora jumped across the buildings to where the dogs were. Once he got at a comfortable distance he cast stop on the dogs which froze them all in place despite them not knowing it to Borris and Jenna's confusion,but appreciation at the same time. Balto jumped on a barrel that was in the ice once he ran out of pillars to jump on and it provided a nice boost to the land. The others looked at him with confusion as he didn't get back on the track and instead took a "shortcut" by climbing up a ladder to a boat that towered above the dogs in their frozen states,he jumped right off and back in first place as the spell broke and Nikki stopped in shock once he saw that Balto was back in the race. However the other dogs didn't stop and jumped right onto Nikki planting his mouth full of snow as Sora smiled and joked "Who's eating snow now mutt?!"

Thanks to Sora's little trick and Balto's little short cut,he was now in first place and the other dogs were long behind him as he bolted right through the finish line,Balto had won the race and was the fastest dog. Everyone roared with applause especially Sora as Borris celebrated "Did I teach him well? I could kiss that crazy pooch!"

* * *

Sora jumped down onto the track to a very exhausted but happy Balto. "Way to go Balto! I knew you could do it!" Sora laughed as Balto stared off to see a smiling Jenna. Sora and Balto turned around to see Steele walking towards them as he ordered "Okay,Nikki,Kaltag,Star,move it. We're strapping up."

"Hey now just a second here Steele. I was the fastest dog." Balto explained while Sora added "Yeah,and be beat your cronies too." This caused Steele to slowly shake his neck and his eye twitched with anger and frustration but he tried to revert back to his "classy" demeanor.

"You were the fastest….what?" Do you honestly think any musher would put you on his team? Your even more mixed up than I thought."

"Hey Balto's a lot more than just a half breed. He's a lot more than what you snobs think and if he wants to help us then give him the opportunity for once." Sora argued trying to defend Balto but Steele simply walked up to Sora and said "You really are something kid. I don't know why you can talk to us or what you're doing here…...but I make the rules here. And if you do anything to humiliate me like you did last night….then I can assure you that you won't leave this town alive." Steel growled but he stopped when he heard Jenna call his name and belittle him for his behavior.

"It doesn't matter who's on the team as long as the medicine gets through. Stop being such a glory hound."

"Yeah for someone who's supposed to be a town hero you sure seem to be risking these kids just for the sake of getting more attention and your stupid "rules"." Sora added to which Steele responded to Jeanna "Your a hundred percent right Jenna I- I- I wasn't thinking about those children. The important thing here is to get the medicine through and that's what I'm gonna do." Steele muttered this in a manner that sounded like it was hurting him to say it as he turned to Balto and whispered "And when I come back I'm gonna fold you five ways….and leave you for a cat toy."

Soon the referee came to examine the winner as Steele proceeded to growl at Balto. Sora and the half breed were confident that he would see the good in Balto but Steele had stomped in Balto's foot which caused him to growl in pain which revealed all his teeth.

"Ah,we can't trust this one. He's part wolf,you see those teeth? He might turn on me. Nikki,Kaltag,Star,be ready to go in a few hours. Sora and Balto looked at Steele in anger as he smiled and proceeded to follow the referee. Sora was feeling very tempted to pounce onto Steele and knock his lights out but he knew it wouldn't end well since there were so many people around. However he did shout at the top of his lungs "You rotten scum!" which Steele or the referee paid no attention to as they continued to walk off. Soon all the townspeople started to leave to continue their daily activities as Jenna walked up to Balto "Balto,I'm sorry."

"Better not talk to me Jenna. I might turn on you."

"Balto wait!"

"Just leave me alone…..please." Balto pleases as Jenna slowly but surely walked off as Balto and Sora continued to sit in the street alone in their own thoughts.

* * *

Nikki,Kaltag,Star and all the other dogs of the town walked up to the two as Nikki remarked "Did you think you had a chance getting in with the top dogs like us? You halfbreeds must have some major screws loose up stairs!" All the dogs howled with laughter as Sora and Balto didn't even look at them since Sora was too angry to think while Balto was too depressed to do anything.

Kaltag added "You said it,you would add nothing to the team and would only have slowed us down. Hey why don't we let your mother know of the situation?" The dogs started to howl like they did the other day but it seemed like every dog in the town was howling as Sora tried to once again leave with Balto but like before Balto started to growl. Sora knew that this wasn't good since Balto was starting to shake violently almost as if he was vibrating and darkness again started to flow out of his mouth and nose.

"No Balto,don't do this again! They don't know anything about you and they don't deserve to be in your life!" Sora looked Balto in his eyes to try and stop him but he didn't say a word. Like before his eyes started to glow amber and his appearance was starting to change. The other dogs were still howling as Nikki,Kaltag,and Star were just laughing at each other's jokes and Balto had finally had enough as he viciously growled "Shut up."

"Balto please stop!" Sora pleaded but Balto had completely shut off Sora from his surroundings and was only focused on the dogs.

"What did you say?"

Balto's anger was starting to cause pebbles to rise from the ground and his claws and teeth were once again growing to ridiculous sizes as he shouted at the top of his lungs "I SAID SHUT UP!"

A massive explosion of darkness enveloped Balto as it formed a pillar that touched the sky. The other dogs along with Sora backed away in fear but Nikki was too paralyzed to do anything. Once the pillar had faded away all that was there was a much taller,much wider,much bigger,and much more vicious Balto. He had completely given into the darkness in his heart and had become a completely different beast. His fur was pitch back like before,it was so black that not even the brightest sunlight could reflect off him,his teeth and claws were razor sharp and his eyes were yellow with no pupils. He had grown significantly taller and was foaming darkness from his mouth,nose,and even his ears. The other dogs had long run away by this point but Nikki was standing completely still since he was too scared to move as Balto said in a ghostly deep demonic voice "I will make you suffer!"

Balto proceeded to run towards Nikki with the intent to kill but Sora was not having it. He hated Nikki's guts but even then he couldn't fathom the idea of Balto killing him. Just as Balto was about to sink his teeth into Nikki,Sora jumped right in front of him keyblade in hand as Balto snapped his jaws clean onto it.

"Nikki! Get outta here!" This snapped Nikki out of his daze and once he saw what Sora was facing he bolted off as Balto threw Sora and the keyblade off. He tried to chase right after Nikki but Sora grabbed the keyblade and cast stop freezing Balto in place. Sora got in front of Balto to try and convince him to snap out of it "Balto stop! You don't know what your doing this isn't you!" but the spell had broken as Balto dashed right through Sora throwing him a good distance.

Once he landed on the ground he was surprised to see that he landed on Balto as he was running at a incredible speed that even surpassed him during the race. Balto was frantically searching for Nikki as Sora tried to hang on to Balto's fur as he made rapid sharp turns and high jumps. Balto was shouting stuff like "Come On Out!" and Sora was hitting him with the keyblade to no results,this was bad,Balto was now a monster and Sora didn't know what to do. Balto soon managed to find Nikki hiding in a alleyway along with the other dogs as they cowered in fear of him. Balto smiled and showed off his teeth as Sora got off and tried to protect the dogs.

"Balto,I won't let you hurt them. All the stuff they've done to you is terrible,your whole life must have been terrible because of them I bet that. But this is not you and I will not let you hurt them!" Sora said trying to get through to Balto but he ignored him as his claws started to grow even longer.

"I don't wanna do this Balto! Don't make me do this!"

"Balto!"

"Jenna!" Jenna had seen and heard what was going on and it hurt her to see that this was Balto as she tried to approach them.

"Jenna stay back!" Sora told her to do so but she ran to Balto to try and talk some sense into him but before she could get close enough to do so Balto hit her as he knocked her into a wall.

"Jenna! Balto stop your hurting Jenna!" Once Balto heard this he stopped and turned his head towards Jenna as she got up with apparently a broken leg. Once he saw Jenna he slowly started to revert,the realization of him hurting someone as close to him as Jenna was the breaking point. Not even Sora had that big of a impact on him.

Once Balto had completely reverted back to normal he had tears in his eyes as he walked over to Jenna. They stared at each other for a bit before he whispered "I'm sorry." Before Jenna could respond he ran off to be alone as the other dogs started to come out.

Sora took a look at the other dogs as Nikki asked "What was that?"

Sora simply frowned and replied "Isn't it obvious? That's what you turned Balto into. That's what all of you have done," as he ran off to find Balto. Nikki,Kaltag,and Star simply stared at each other as Star did the honor of hitting himself in the head as he had already felt bad for what they have done.

* * *

Steele meanwhile had not even known of what had happened and simply basked in his glory,he didn't know the consequences of toying with Balto and simply wanted him off the team. He was staring off into the distance as he was thinking of all the glory he'd bask in once he got back and cured the kids of their sickness,in reality he didn't really care about the kids he just wanted to be known as the dog who saved them.

"What a smart dog." A mysterious voice came in as Steele jumped up and examined his surroundings trying to find it.

"Who's there?!"

"My identity is not important." The voice replied as a dark portal opened to reveal Saix.

"Your that man that infected those kids. What do you want?"

"I merely want to help you."

"I seriously doubt that."

"Believe me if you wish but know this. That half-breed wants to take Jenna away from you. You know that she has a more leaning towards wolf….should you see him again…..don't hold back. Don't let him take her away." Those were the last words Saix said to Steele before he disappeared into another dark portal.

* * *

 _End of Chapter 3. This chapter took a lot longer to make and I apologize. I just have stuff to do and I can't write every day. Stay tuned for more as I have more projects I want to work on alongside this._


	4. Chapter 4: The Journey Begins

Kingdom Hearts: Light Of Nome

Chapter 4: The Journey Begins

Balto had felt terrible for what he had done that day,in his heart he knew he had hatred for Steele and the other dogs aside from Jenna. But in the back of his mind he knew that he shouldn't have given into his darkness,after seeing that he hurt Jenna and to a lesser extent Sora,he ran away to be by himself. Even Nikki,Kaltag,and Star felt a little bad for what they caused but not by much,Star simply bopped himself on the head while Nikki and Kaltag tried to pin the blame on eachother.

Sora,Donald,Goofy,Borris,and Jenna were searching for Balto but he was nowhere to be found not even at the boat.

"Balto where are you!" Sora shouted while Borris was trying to lure him out with dog treats he stole from a shop. Donald was using a flare spell to try and get his attention and Jenna was shouting his name along with Sora. Meanwhile in a little patch of woods away from the town Balto had climbed up into a tree so no one could find him aside from a few squirrels that inhabited the tree. It also provided a nice view of the town and frozen wasteland,but all it served as was a reminder that he could not find any place that would accept him. Out on the tundra he could faintly see the group supposedly looking for him,but he simply said to himself "Sora,Jenna,Borris. A monster like me doesn't deserve good friends like you. I'm Sorry."

Eventually they stopped their search as they had gotten tired,hungry,and the sun was starting to set. They went back to the town to watch the dogs take off as they lit a signal light for when the dogs would arrive back. They all got into the crowd to get a good view and the sight of Steele acting all proud and heroic made Sora gag. Meanwhile Rosie and her parents were looking out a window with worried yet hopeful faces. This was a huge gamble for the town that would entirely determine the kid's fate. Soon the dogs bolted off at a incredible speed as Balto could see them from the tree he was in thanks to the signal light,he simply sighed and jumped down to find something to eat. Even as a wolf-dog he couldn't hunt as good as a wolf and he knew he had to find some food,he took a look towards the town and decided to hopefully find something there.

* * *

Once the crowd died down when the dogs left,Sora turned to a worried Jenna as she was having thoughts about Balto and Rosie. He took this opportunity to try and cheer her up and assure her about Balto's good nature.

"Jenna,Balto is not that monster he turned into. There's a lot more to him than what that town thinks. Don't you agree?"

"Sora,Balto is one of the sweetest dogs I've ever met. Back there in the boiler room,I saw a side of him that they all refuse to see. He may be a half breed,but that's ok with me."

Jenna started to tear up as she whimpered "I just want Rosie to be safe,I don't trust that ego mutt Steele with the medicine."

Sora hearing this decided to have a group discussion with Donald and Goofy as they were watching their conversation. They huddled together and Sora whispered "I don't trust Steele and those dogs to keep the medicine safe either. Why don't we go get it ourselves?"

"I don't know Sora,if Steele sees that we saved the town who knows what he will do." Goofy replied while Donald nodded his head in agreement.

"Come on,that mutt cares far more about showing off to Jenna than saving the town. Plus we're junior heroes and maybe this will get Phil off his high horse." Donald and Goofy reluctantly agreed as Sora concluded "It's settled,we leave at dawn." and they exclaimed all at once "All for one and one for all."

Sora approached Jenna and announced "We've decided to handle this ourselves. Steele's not heroic enough to be a rescue dog."

"Thank you Sora,Donald,Goofy." Jenna replied gratefully but Sora muttered "I just wish Balto would go with us. We were gonna go together to prove himself to the town…..but anyway all that matters is saving those kids." Sora waved goodbye to Jenna and Borris as the three decided to go ahead and get some sleep. They had a very big journey ahead of them. Sora thought to himself "I don't wanna sleep in this town,but the boat is too far away." He glanced at the boiler room and told Donald and Goofy "Hey,we can sleep in the boiler room. It's warm in there and I don't think anyone would bother us." Donald and Goofy agreed as they proceeded to get a good night's sleep.

* * *

Meanwhile Steele's gang was making good progress,non stop running in the dead of a freezing night. Soon they made it to the pick up point for the medicine and as fast as they arrived,they proceeded to head back to the town,but unfortunately things were starting to go very wrong. Not only was more and more snow starting to fall,but it was the omen of a great blizzard and it beat the group hard as they slowly trudged through the snow. Steele was getting more and more determined to keep going but the other dogs were having second thoughts.

"Steele! Maybe we should go back! We're lost!" Star suggested to which Steele snarled back "I am not lost!". Star got very scared as to what an angry beast like Steele could do to him and he reluctantly pushed on.

"Lost? Heh-heh. Did I say lost? You didn't let me finish I wanted to say-" he stammered frantically but before he could finish Steele shouted "This way!" as he pulled the team forward.

* * *

Back in the town the news of the team's situation had made it back to the other dogs to their shock and horror.

"It's terrible my friends. Just terrible. Steele and his team are lost." One of them announced to a group of dogs in the boiler room as they gasped in shock. Sora,Donald,and Goofy were fast asleep but out of view of the dogs,however their discussion about Steele woke up Sora as he decided to eavesdrop. Balto meanwhile had made it back to the town as he tried to scavenge for some food but to no avail. Once he heard the discussion from the boiler room he too decided to eavesdrop on them through a window,he at least wanted to know how they were doing.

"They've missed their second checkpoint. I knew it,they're off the trail."

"Can't they send another team?" another dog asked to which the dog replied "It's too dangerous for us and our men."

"What about them little ones?"

"The medicine won't be here in time….we're going to lose them." Sora and Balto gasped when they heard this,Sora was right that Steele would find some way to screw it up. Balto hearing this whispered to himself "Rosie." he knew he had to go out and find Steele,his crew and the medicine.

"Donald,Goofy. Change of plans,we have to go now." Sora whispered as he woke up Donald and Goofy."

"Morning already?" Donald asked to which Sora replied "No,Steele's messed up like I thought it he would. We have to leave now if we are going to save those kids."

"Are you sure there isn't anyone who can help?" the dog asked to which Sora replied out loud "Yes there is." as he appeared from their sleeping spot.

"My name's Sora,this is Donald and Goofy. We're going to go out there and bring that medicine back."

"But how can do you expect to do that,Steele and his team are lost and the kids have less and less time left."

"We'll find a way. I promise. Let's go." Sora reassured the dogs as the three bolted out of the boiler room. They headed towards the starting line where the dogs took off and thankfully the snow hadn't completely covered their tracks. Sora took one last look at the hospital and said to himself "Don't worry everyone. We'll be back. And we'll make sure this doesn't happen again." as he was reminded of Saix and how he was the cause of this.

* * *

Meanwhile things were not looking good for Rosie,she was in bed at the hospital as they let Jenna in to see her. She slowly walked up to Rosie as she woke up,but before she could get some time with Jenna she fell back asleep due to the sickness. Balto was watching from the window and left to see how the humans were doing. He took a look inside the carpenter's shop and was shocked to see that they had already built coffins as all hope had been lost for them. It was settled,Balto immediately proceeded to go after the medicine unaware that Sora,Donald,and Goofy were already ahead of them. Unfortunately the gummi ship was out of the question since the blizzard had completely covered it in snow and they couldn't be bothered to remember where it was,so they had to take it on foot. The three trudged through the frozen wasteland that seemed to go on forever but Sora was not stopping despite his feet feeling like they were about to fall off.

"Come on guys,we have to keep going." Sora said in a determined tone but Donald and Goofy were slowing down. Sora got an idea to cast fire and use his keyblade as a torch and he told Donald to do the same thing to his staff. It made the hike more bearable and it certainly prevented them from freezing to death.

"Do you think the medicine will save those kiddies?" Goofy asked which was a valid question since the sickness was caused by the seeds of darkness Saix planted. Sora stopped for second and thought about it for a minute. The people didn't even know what it exactly was and the medicine was just a last resort,so it wasn't exactly guaranteed that this would help. These thoughts started to creep in his mind but he brushed them off and replied "I don't know,but anything that can help is worth the trouble."

* * *

Back in Nome Balto was heading out while Borris was trying to convince him to stay.

"Balto,please. Don't go crazy on me now. This is foolishness you will die like a dog! Oh,uh,no offense." Borris insisted but Balto didn't even bat an eye and continued onward. Out in the distance on the boat Muk and Luk were overhearing their talk and decided to tag along without any hesitation.

"You will be frozen stiff by morning! When you are big frozen-stiff statue named Balto,don't come running to me!" Borris threatened before Muk and Luk came sliding on some ice and tackled him. Once they got up Muk asked "Luk says "Where is he going?" "

"He's going into the freezing coldness to find a dog he doesn't like to bring medicine back to a town that doesn't like him. And who knows where those clownish friends of his are? Oh no! I'm beginning to understand the bear!"

Balto realizing that Borris needed some convincing to come along with him,picked him up by the mouth and brought him to the hospital window where they could see the bedroom lined up with sick kids. Once Borris saw how much pain Rosie was going through he said "So let's go get the medicine."

"Wait a minute. Now you're coming?"

"Spending days in bitter cold,facing wild animals,risking death from exposure,is like a holiday in old country." Borris joked as the group finally took off. Back at the hospital Jenna was looking at Rosie through the window and started to cry softly as she lay her head on the window still. However her nose perked up once she caught a familiar scent,she sniffed it some more and turned around to see some tracks leading out of town. It was Balto's team's tracks and she questioned "Balto?"

"Balto's…..going for the medicine? Sora has to know this." She thought to herself as she scurried around the town looking for Sora but to no avail. Once she reached the starting line where the dogs took off,she stared at the ground to find Sora,Donald's and Goofy's footprints. Realizing that they all had gone out to find the medicine,she bolted off too.

* * *

They all continued their journey each with different means of approaching things. Balto was marking trees so they could find their way back,Sora was dragging the keyblade in the snow so it could resemble a road,and Jenna was following Balto's path. It was a very monotonous trudge as the scenery never changed and the attempts to play games like I Spy didn't help as there was nothing to "spy". It was nonstop walking for what felt like days but Balto and Sora's group managed to reach the forests of Alaska to their relief. Sora climbed on top of the trees hoping to see the medicine from there but to no avail,and Balto wasn't too far behind due to their increased speed as four legged animals. Soon Balto started to sniff the air to maybe get a whiff of Steele's scent to which Muk and Luk tried to imitate to Borris's annoyance.

"Come on,Steele and his team passed this way." Balto said while Borris muttered "Boy is he lost." As Balto was continuing to mark trees,he suddenly caught multiple familiar scents. It wasn't Steele's but it was strangely familiar. He continued to sniff the air until he perked up "What's Sora doing out here?!"

Borris asked " Yes,what would he be doing out here? He's probably drinking hot coca by the fire." Balto thought for a moment until he remembered their talk the night before the race.

"He said he wanted to come with me to get the medicine assuming I won,maybe he's gone out to get it himself." Balto sniffed the air some more until he yelled "He's not too far ahead,let's go!" as they followed their scents.

* * *

Meanwhile Steele's gang was still hopelessly lost as the blizzard continued to beat them down as Star yelled "STEELE! WE'RE GOING IN CIRCLES" to which Steele snarled back "WHAT?!"

"Circles is a good thing. I mean uh,they're circular." Star nervously stammered as Steele was obviously getting more frustrated and angry.

"I know what I'm doing! It's-it's….this way! Come on!" Steele shouted as he pulled the team forward once again but as they were dashing through the snow,a giant heartless soon appeared inches away from Steele's face and in a flash made a sharp turn to avoid it. However the turn led them directly down a downward slope that was way too steep for him to control as they slid down at a incredible speed,the musher was getting beat up badly due to the rocks and tree branches they hit,and once they reached the ground they were all thrown off of the sled and to make things worse,the musher was knocked out. They were stranded with no way home. The dogs started to get out of the snow as Nikki complained "Ohh I hit my head on something." to which Kaltag replied "Yeah my head." They walked towards the musher and they knew he was not fit to drive as they broke the news to Steele.

"Looks like he's hurt bad Steele."

"What are we gonna do now Steele?"

Steele merely kept quiet and for the first time in his life,he showed genuine fear and didn't know what to do.

* * *

Out in the distance on a mountain top,the heartless reappeared but this time by Saix. For he had summoned the heartless and had deliberately crippled them. He said to himself in a ghostly deep voice "Your determination is impressive. All the pieces are in place." Soon Xemnas appeared beside him "Lord Xemnas everything is going according to plan. Once that wolf dog appears,he will be pushed so hard to the point of once again giving in to the darkness,but this time he will not return."

"Good. Sora is on his way as well. Pretty soon they will have their reunion,and Sora will have no choice but to defeat the half-breed. It's all he ever does."

* * *

 _End Of Chapter 4_


	5. Chapter 5:The Battle In The Snow

Kingdom Hearts Light Of Nome

Chapter 5: The Battle In The Snow

Sora and the others were in a darker area of the forest. It wasn't super bright but it wasn't super dark either,little light penetrated through the trees but the mostly clear sky illuminated the darkness. It was very quiet as well,with not a sound able to be heard aside from the crunching of snow under their feet until they stopped for a break.

"*Sigh* no matter how long we're out here,I can't get used to this snow." Sora complained when a pile of snow fell on him from a branch.

"Sora,are you sure we're going in the right direction?" Donald pouted while Goofy added "I'm getting hungry." as he rubbed his stomach.

"We'll get the medicine and bring it back as quick as possible,come to think of it I'm pretty starving too." Sora agreed as he got up to possibly find something,but something made him stop in his tracks. Out in the distance he heard the very faint but still audible crunching of snow,his heart started to pound because the complete silence of the forest from before was broke and he didn't know what it was. He signaled for Donald and Goofy to stay quiet as he jumped up in a tree to try and get a look at whatever it was.

He quietly scampered across the tree branches as not to give away his location,and once he reached the sound,he was surprised and relieved to see that it was Balto,Borris,Muk,and Luk.

* * *

Balto was still sniffing the air while Borris trudged behind and the two polar bears had a snowball fight.

"Okay,Sora and the others should be just up ahead." Balto said as Borris quietly growled "Anything to keep those two ingrates distracted."

Balto's ears perked up when he heard the yelling of a familiar and happy voice "Hey Balto! We missed you!" They all turned their heads in anticipation to find where the voice came from when it added "Up here!"

Balto turned his head upwards to see a smiling Sora on top of a tree branch as he yelled "Hey Sora! Come down here!" Sora chuckled and jumped down to happily greet Balto,while he was petting him he turned to Borris and the two bears and exclaimed "Hey Borris! How you doing?"

"Nothing but sunshine and rainbows." He growled through his teeth as Muk and Luk kept pelting him with snowballs.

"Donald! Goofy! It's alright it's just Balto!" They soon arrived at the comoction when Balto decided to ask "What on Earth are you doing out here?"

"I was about to ask the same to you. We're tracking Steele and the medicine. That idiot got lost and now the medicine is stranded out here." Sora replied with a concerned voice to which Balto smiled "Well thankfully that's why I'm out here too. We shouldn't be too far from Steele, so if we keep going we should reach him by sunset."

Sora grabbed all of them in a hold and said enthusiastically "All right,let's find that medicine!"" Borris however suggested "kindly" "Sora,I do have a bit of a request for you."

"What is it Borris?" Sora asked dimwitted to which Borris shouted at the top of his lungs "HOW BOUT LETTING GO!"

Unbeknownst to them,Saix was watching their reunion when he summoned the heartless that attacked Steele's group with a snap of his fingers.

"Buy time,take care of them. Do not devour them." He snapped his fingers once again and the heartless vanished into a cloud of red smoke. After that,Xemnas appeared from a dark portal as he asked "What troubles you?"

"It's too early for them to reach the medicine. Steele must be pushed to the point where any help could be considered a personal attack to him. If the wolf dog is to become a viable asset to the Organization,he must give into the darkness and this time,he must not return. So I sent a distraction to buy us time."

Xemnas stared off into the distance and he could faintly see a signal light come off of the medicine,he gave off a slight smile and vanished into another dark portal as Saix followed.

* * *

Sora and the gang were making better progress due to Balto's sense of smell,and as Balto was about to lead them in another direction,he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard what sounded like a very faint growl. He perked up his ears and tried to figure out where it was coming from but to no avail. Whatever it was however,it was getting closer and closer.

Balto got nervous as he tried to tell the others "Guys I think-" but he stopped when he heard something and turned his head to see a dark figure hide behind a tree as it growled.

"I think we should keep moving." He continued as Borris asked "Is that your answer to all problems,motion?" Donald found himself being with Borris most of the trip as Muk,Luk,and even Goofy pelted them with snowballs. Sora ran up to Balto while Goofy was still behind with Muk And Luk,with Donald and Borris not being too far behind.

Donald and Borris were getting more annoyed at the continuous pelting of snowballs,they were just about to tell them off when two big snowballs pelted them both in the head.

Borris got up from the snow and yelled"Okay,that's it. It's time for goose and duck to kick a little bear butt." to which Donald agreed "Yeah! I'm getting a headache!"

They both turned around to see that the two bears and Goofy were shaking in fear. Borris laughed after seeing their reactions "Aha! Finally! Your old Uncle Borris is making an impression!" but he stopped when he and Donald felt their backs come up against something furry. Their eyes soon widened with shock as they lifted their heads up to see a heartless with pitch black fur,red eyes,and razor sharp teeth. It was also in the shape of a bear and the little bit of sunlight gave the heartless shades of orange and blue on its fur. This was none other than the heartless Saix summoned and Borris and Donald's jaw dropped when they saw it.

The bear lifted its arm up ready to swipe at them when Sora and Balto turned around to see it. They gasped at the sight and ran forward to attack it as Sora whipped out the keyblade and yelled "Guys run!" but the others were too paralyzed to move.

Balto jumped up at the beast preparing to strike but the bear swiped at him,and Sora jumped up and cast reflect on him but the bear broke through it and swiped him away as well.

It took awhile for Sora to get up,but Balto got up and started chewing on the bear's leg. It wasn't doing much but it did keep the bear away from the others and it did end up knocking it down.

When it was still down,Balto yelled at the still unconscious boy "Sora help me take him out!"

This woke up Sora as he went into limit form and jumped straight up in the air as he prepared to perform a downward sonic blade into the bear along with Balto,but before they could hit it,the bear grabbed them both with it's paws and pinned them down into the snow.

Sora yelled out of panic "Donald! Goofy!" This snapped the two out of their daze and Donald ran forward with the intent to light its fur on fire. But before he could,he stopped to see that a familiar face had jumped on the bear's back. It was Jenna,she attempted to dig into the bear with her claws,it did some minor damage as the bears walked around trying to get her off like a bull. This freed Balto and Sora as the boy cast cure on both of them.

The bear was still flailing around with Jenna barely holding on,eventually the bear did get her off as it threw her into the snow and Donald cast a fire spell on it. It did some minor damage but the fire didn't last very long due to the cold.

Muk,Luk,and Borris were panicking as they ran in different directions and Balto tried to attack it while Sora gave Jenna a potion. Donald did the same fire attack over and over but it kept going out. Sora saw this and got an idea,he told Donald to do it again,but this time Sora cast areo to fan it out so it would expand and get bigger. The bear panicked as it did lots of damage,and it was on its last legs as Sora and Balto teamed up to do a drill attack.

They jumped up into the air and Balto used his claws to spin at a rapid speed while Sora performed a drill version of Sonic blade. They joined together and formed a much bigger looking drill as they hit the bear directly in the face as it flew at least 10 feet,unfortunately however the landing spot was right in the middle of a frozen river . Almost the entire river that ran for miles and miles was frozen,but the attack certainly took out the heartless as it vanished away with it's heart floating into the sky.

The landing of the bear did cause a giant crack in the ice to appear and the two of them got nervous as they slowly trudged across the ice. The others had ran to the edge of the water as they happily smiled at the revelation that they weren't hurt.

However their smiles went away when Balto's foot fell right through the ice and it caused a domino effect that broke some of the surrounding ice. Sora panicked and tried to grab ahold of Balto's leg but his weight caused him to fall in the water with him. The others all panicked as they all shouted "Sora! Balto!"

Muk And Luk without really thinking had already decided to jump in the river to retrieve their friends,the others ran on the ice as Jenna shouted "Muk! Luk!"

Borris panicked as well "They cannot swim!" as Jenna shouted flabbergasted "What?! Polar bears who can't swim?!"

Muk and Luk were being hammered by the current as they flaied uncontrollably,but they soon saw that Balto and Sora were hanging onto the upper layer of ice. Balto used his claws to hold on while Sora used the edge of the keyblade as a hook.

Jenna panted hard as she panicked "They're drowning! No!" She turned to Borris who was bobbing up and down through a hole in the ice hoping to see them.

"Well?!" Borris lifted his head and sneezed "Yaa-ow! I don't see them."

"Ohh! Where are they?!" Jenna yelled,but she got curious when she saw that Donald used fire to melt some of the ice.

"What are you doing? She asked calmer when Donald replied "I'm getting my friend back." He jumped high into the air,lifted his rod and in an instant turned himself into his octopus form from Atlantica. Borris and Jenna's jaws dropped when they saw that and before they could question Donald about it,he had dived into the river.

* * *

They soon heard a faint rumbling under the ice as the two bears burst out with Muk And Luk carrying Balto while Donald carried Sora as he turned back into a duck. The others roared with cheers and laughter as they ran towards the shore.

Borris ran towards the unconscious duo as he panicked "Come to life. Come to life. Breath! Come on!" He slapped Balto's face as Donald cast cure on both of them and Luk asked "Are they going to be okay? 'Cause they're not breathing. They don't look very well. Stop hitting Balto Uncle Borris!"

Eventually Balto opened his eyes slowly as Borris happily muttered "Balto,I was so scared I got people bumps." Sora woke up to see that Muk was staring at him right up in his face as he screamed. Once Muk saw that he was alive he grabbed Sora in a bear hug as Sora panicked "Muk! Muk! I'm okay!"

Balto and the others laughed at the display as Muk let Sora go,eventually Balto spoke up and coughed "Borris-I know you think this trip is crazy but-I'm glad you came."

Borris smiled and joked "Who else should you bring on a wild goose chase but a goose?"

Balto saw that Jenna was walking towards him and they both asked at the same time "Are you okay?"

Jenna a little out of breath replied "I'm fine. A message came through,we have to take the mountain trail." She huddled up to the dog so he could be a little warmer. Sora also took the opportunity to light a small fire.

Balto still shivering objected "But if we take the eagle pass,it'll save us half a day."

"It's blocked. The mountain trail is dangerous but we can do it."

"I'm beginning to see there isn't anything you can't do." Balto smiled at Jenna as Borris intervened their back and forth "I'm seeing a few things too. And it's making the ice melt."

Before Balto could retort back,Muk and Luk shook all the water off their fur with Borris right next to them as he shouted "I HATE BEARS!"

They all laughed at Boris's anger but Jenna tripped on her leg as it was broken due to the heartless. She tried to deny it as Balto told her "You're hurt." When she tried to walk and it ended up hurting more,she admitted that she was not fine.

Sora and Donald both cast cure on her leg but it wasn't enough for her to continue on.

"You should all go on ahead without me." "Jenna-" "No no I'd be slowing everyone down. Rosie can't hold out much longer."

Balto hung his head and Sora got a frown when Balto insisted "Muk,Luk,Take Jenna back to town on this." He grabbed a tree branch that still had some leaves on it for them to use while Borris added "And this time don't go for a swim."

"You can make sure of that Borris. You're gonna lead them home,just follow my marks." Balto assured as Borris face palmed himself.

Sora rubbed his chin to think and soon turned to Donald and Goofy and asked "Donald,Goofy,I think you should go with them too."

"What!" Donald asked abruptly as Goofy added "You need us Sora! All for one and one for all!"

"I know,I just think that Rosie and those kids could use a little bit of magic. Look I know it won't be enough but just a little bit could make their chances much higher."

Donald and Goofy after hearing that did a salute and said "You can count on us Sora!"

"Just you and Sora?" Jenna asked to which Balto replied "Me and him can do anything."

"Here. Afraid it won't keep you very warm." Jenna took off her bandana and gave it to Balto as he put it on his neck "Yeah it will." She rubbed her head against Balto's signifying a hug as Muk sobbed intensely. Luk seeing this assured him "Well of course Balto and Sora will come back. They're Balto and Sora aren't they?"

"Hey we're coming back with the medicine aren't we Balto?" Sora asked with a smile as Balto replied "Yes we are. I promise Jenna. Go ahead guys take her home."

Sora walked up to Jenna and assured her "I promise too Jenna." He went into his pocket and pulled out Kari's good luck charm and gave it to Jenna.

"Jenna,this is something very special to me. It's something's a friend made and I'm holding on to it for her. It's her lucky charm,but I think you could use it for now. Don't ever forget Jenna,wherever you go,Balto is with you." He pointed to Jenna's heart and she rubbed her head against his too as she said "Thank you Sora. For everything."

As Balto and Sora were about to head off,Borris called out to Balto "Balto. I do not like leaving you out here alone. Who's going to tell you how cold you are?"

"Borris,Sora can. Look they need you more than I do."

"Let me tell you something you two. A dog and a boy cannot make this journey alone,but maybe a wolf and a man...can." Borris walked up to Sora and whispered "Can you keep him out of trouble for me?" Sora chuckled "I will Borris."

"Alright you two balls of fluff and circus animals! Let's move!" Once they were all gone Sora and Balto stared off into the horizon. Sora turned towards the dog and asked "You ready to get some medicine Balto?"

Balto chuckled and replied "As ready as I'll ever be." And they were off.

* * *

 _Author's Note_

 _This chapter took way too long to make I know,but I have some other stories to write and finish and I will try my best to finish this story as soon as I can. All I can say is look forward to the climax,it'll be worth it and without spoiling too much,the movies climax isn't where this story ends._


	6. Chapter 6: Steele's Decent

Kingdom Hearts:Light Of Nome

Chapter 6:Steele's Descent Into Darkness

Back in the town of Nome,things were not looking good. Many people had given up hope,and it was to the point where any of the children could go at any time. Many parents were going in and out to say their goodbyes,and each and every time they came out drenched in their own tears.

In the news and report station of the town,the news reporter had just received a telegram from miles away "Stop. Cannot send more antitoxin. Stop. Weather too severe. Stop. Lost sled team only hope. Stop. Our prayers are with them. Anchorage. Stop."

By now,Borris's group had made it back to town with the intent of heading to the hospital,and as they trudged through the blizzard Jenna asked nervously "Do you think this stuff will help?"

Donald admits his shivering replied "I-i-i-I'm not sure J-j-Jenna. All we know is that S-s-s-sora wants us to help in anyway possible."

Goofy who was shivering as well added "We j-j-just have to by Sora and Balto more time."

"The duck is right,as long as Sora and Balto can bring back the medicine,that girl of yours should be quite alright." Borris told Jenna in a comforting tone as he turned around and smiled to which she smiled back.

They soon reached the hospital and like they intended,Donald cast cure on the kids and gave the staff some of their potions as a last resort. As Donald and Goofy did this,Jenna looked out the window and up at the night sky as she whispered "Sora,Balto,I'm really counting on you guys." before she fell headed to the boiler room where the over dogs were.

* * *

Meanwhile Steele's gang was still stranded as the snow hammered down on them. The other dogs were buried under a mountain of snow all except for Steele,this was one of the few times he felt legitimately scared and fearful. He had gotten the dogs lost,the medicine was now without a way home,and the blame honestly couldn't be shifted onto him. Granted he did get them lost,but it was the blizzard and Saix's heartless that driven them off the main road,and Steele hopelessly wandered the empty space between them and looked down the cliff leading into the woods below.

As he was considering just abandoning the mission and starting a new life elsewhere,a familiar voice interrupted his thoughts as his eyes widened.

"Well look at this,a stranded dog and his team. If I had a heart this is where I'd feel obligation to help you." Steele turned around sharply to see Saix appearing out of another dark portal as he said in a panic "It's you from before,please you have to help us. We're on the verge of freezing to death and I must be known as the one who saved the town."

Saix got a frown on his face and asked "Is this really how the great and powerful Steele reacts? He cowers like a newborn puppy,and begs for salvation?" Steele was about to plead even more but as he began to open his mouth,Saix quickly interrupted "I know you want Jenna,but she doesn't want you. What she really wants,is the wolf dog."

"Balto?" Steele asked as his eyes widened out frustration and he snarled "What do I have to do? I will not let that freak take her away from me. She's the best,and I deserve the best!"

Saix started to smile and coldly replied "Good,Balto is on his way here right now…..and so is Sora."

"Sora? Him too?!" Steele growled back as he started to grit his teeth to which Saix smiled even more and continued "They may claim to want to help you,but all they really want is to take away your fame,your power,and Jenna. And when it's all said and done,you'll be an outcast...forgotten...disregarded...shamed...and Sora will just leave along with his freinds for other worlds with the fame and glory that rightfully belongs to you...just like the meddler he is."

Steele raised an eyebrow and asked out of confusion and intrigue "Meddler?" Saix got a slight frown and mockingly replied "You still don't know yet do you? That boy and his two companioms travel from world to world,constantly fighting the heartless,and he always leaves with everlasting fame,but he never returns to the worlds and people that respect him. And he intends to do the same here."

"Why that no good rat. He thinks he can just waltz in and take all the glory that should belong to me!" Steele shouted out of pure rage and detest for Sora,and Saix was getting more and more satisfied at Steele's seemingly newfound strenght and anger.

Saix suddenly decided to tell Steele all of Sora's achievements from other worlds and it got him even more riled up as Steele started to growl even more ferociously while he his eyes became redder and darker as Saix finished "When they get here,do not hold back. Do whatever it takes to make sure you will be segmented as the greatest dog that Nome has ever known for all eternity."

"Is anyone hurt!?" Balto yelled when he and Sora came sliding down on a trail of ice,in an instant Saix glanced his left eye toward the duo and remarked "Speak of the Devil." Before Saix disappeared once again,he emotionlessly whispered into Steele's ear "Don't let me down." as he vanished into another dark portal.

* * *

"Balto! Sora!"

"Is that Balto and Sora?"

"How did you two find us?!" Star,Nikki,and Kaltag yelled as they emerged from the snow along with the other dogs.

As Sora looked around at the chaos he whispered to himself "Man what a mess. We gotta get them home."

"Everyone…..is…...fine." Steele growled as he hung his head and Star added "Yeah but our musher hit his head and he didn't get up." Star nudged the musher's arm hoping for some kind if response,but to no avail.

"And he's not moving." Kaltag added to which Balto suggested "All right follow me."

"Yeah we can lead you guys home." Sora added but as he picked up the musher's reign,Steele slammed his paw down on it and growled "We don't need your help!"

Sora stared at the dog and asked sternly "What are you don't Steele?"

"I'm making sure that you don't take everything away from me." He growled ferociously as Balto got a disgusted frown and asked "Is this what this is all about,just glory? Look I hate to break the bad news to you Steele but the lives of dozens of kids matter a lot more than your glory. So why don't you sit back and let us save those kids."

"Maybe we should listen to them.' Star suggested but Steele snarled at him as he hid his head under his paws out of fear. Steele was going in fully now and he was starting to become a legitimate threat.

"How would you two get us home?" Nikki asked to which Sora replied "We marked the trail. Easy to follow."

Balto went up to a tree and started to demonstrate,but Steele jumped into the tree and broke it as he said "I'll get us back,I'm the lead dog,I'm in charge."

"Then let us take the medicine back. They're getting worse and worse,so put aside your ego for 30 seconds and let us help." Sora said sternly as Balto walked up to the medicine,but before he could reach it Steele jumped in front of it,blocking it and snarled "If a single one of you so much as touches that box,I'll tear you apart your bodies apart and leave them for the wolves!"

Nikki who was strongly getting off on this whispered to Kaltag "Two bones says Steele takes them."

Nikki got a smug smile and replied "Yeah you're on."

* * *

The other dogs started to circle the three as Balto sternly made their goal clear "Steele,we're not leaving without that medicine." He proceed to walk towards it once again,but this time Steele pushed him into the snow to which Sora yelled "Balto! What's the big idea?"

Meanwhile Nikki and Kaltag were snickering as Nikki said "Hey this is gonna be good." Sora overheard their giggling and yelled "Who's side are you guys on,he's getting slugged?!"

Balto dragged himself out of the snow with a few bruises and scratches,but he continued on as he jokingly asked "Since-since when do you need a pedigree to help someone?" He walked towards the medicine once again to which Steele blocked it again as well. Sora was getting frustrated but tried to polietly ask "Come on Steele,let us help you."

Steele's eyes were twitching and going back and forth between red and his normal color. Kaltag took notice to this and whispered in awe as he chuckled "Look at his eyes look at his eyes."

Sora amidst all this tried to make a sudden dash for the medicine,but Steele saw this and pushed him into the snow with newfound strength and super speed as the others watched in awe.

"He'll feel that tomorrow." Kaltag joked to which Nikki added "I think he's feeling it now. Ouch!" Sora sluggishly got up from the snow as he stumbled on his feet and used the keyblade to hold himself up. Balto frantically ran in front of Steele and sternly stated "We're not going to fight you Steele."

"Why do you think that this'll change things? Do you honestly think that if you bring the medicine back that you'll be seen a a hero and not as the freak you truly are? Well I can tell you one thing,you will never be seen as a hero,and I'll make sure of it!" Steele ran up to Balto and grabbed him by the neck with a powerful bite with his jaw and threw him into a nearby tree.

The dogs all gasped at the sight and brutality,even Nikki and Kaltag were shocked and mortified as Kaltag exclaimed "That can't be legal!" as Nikki added "Yeah!"

Steele heavily panted while Balto got up once again and tried to make a break for the medicine,but Steele pushed Balto out of the way agai but this time he didn't pay attention and knocked over the medicine container as they all watched in sheer horror.

* * *

Meanwhile Saix was watching from a mountain cliff as he said to himself in a surprised voice "This is not what I was expecting. Balto should be embracing his inner darkness to fight back,but it seems that him and Sora's light have,overshadowed it. It looks like I'll have to do this myself." before he vanished into another dark portal.

"Hey that stuff is fragile!" Nikki yelled much more seriously to which Star asked in a panic "What's with Steele? Balto and Sora just want to help!"

"Yeah now you guys see him for who he truly is!" Sora exclaimed to which Nikki admitted "Actually we've never really liked him at all." Sora was shocked and dumbfounded as he asked in confusion "What? You guys always hated him?" They regrettably nodded their heads so as not to upset Steele even further as Sora yelled "Oh we are not done with this conversation!"

Sora's attention was however brought back to Balto as Steele grabbed him by the tail and swung him into a rock by the cliff face,temporarily knocking him out. A quick and cold breeze managed to unwrap and blow off Jenna's orange bandana from his neck to which it flew into the yellow,orange,and red snow.

Sora had enough of this fighting and yelled "Noooooo!" as he whipped out the keyblade and made a quick dash for Steele. Steele was maniacally laughing for he was about to finish Balto off for good with a powerful bite to the neck,but just as he was about to clamp his razor sharp jaws onto Balto,Sora jumped right in at the last possible second and held Steele's mouth wide open with the handle of the keyblade.

The others were in awe at the sight and Nikki exclaimed "That's some weapon you got Sora!" "You all need to get out of here! Those kids are not gonna last much longer!" He told them as he managed to use some of his strength to push Steele back while he cast stopga,ultimately freezing him in midair.

Sora cast curaga on Balto as it woke him up from his knocked out state,but before he could regain his posture,Sora said quickly "You guys have to get going,Steele won't be frozen for long and I know he's not gonna be happy if he sees you gone."

* * *

Immediately they started to hurry things up as Sora lifted the musher and laid him on the sled to rest. He hooked up the dogs to their hooks and reigns as he said "You guys gotta get there fast. Donald and Goofy should have done all that they could,but I don't know how much longer they have." Balto noticed Sora's specific wording and said "You're acting like you're not coming with us."

"I'll catch up with you guys. I'll follow the trail like we marked,someone needs to hold Steele back long enough for you guys,I'll make it back I promise." Sora said reassuringly as Star smiled "You know Sora,you seem like a nice guy."

"We'll continue this conversation another time." Sora smiled,but he got more serious when he saw that time was starting to catch up to Steele.

"Go!" He yelled as the dogs rushed off with the medicine and Steele fell into the snow dumbfounded as he asked "Wait what? What happened? Where-" He stopped when he turned around to see that Balto and the medicine were gone and asked more angrily "Where is the medicine?"

"It's long gone Steele. I trust them a lot more with it that I ever would with you." Sora said as Steele started to growl ferociously and make a dash towards Sora as he yelled "I'll tear you apart!"

* * *

As Steele got closer and closer,Sora went into limit form and used strike raid,Steele dodged the first keyblade swing and grinned "That the best you can do?" as he jumped up in the air preparing for an attack,but his smile went away when the keyblade came back like a boomerang and bopped him in the head. He slid through the snow as the attack made him lose his balance and compousre,but he got an idea and pulled out his claws and jammed them into the ground as he used them to drift through the snow. He made another dash for Sora but this time Sora used a single Sonic Blade dash which knocked Steele into the air. He performed Ragnarok amd multiple lasers popped out of the keyblade and swarmed Steele from all sides. He tried to knock them away but it was no use as he was getting beat up from every angle,and eventually the damage was enough for Steele to be knocked out for a bit as he fell into the snow with a loud thud. Sora went back into his normal clothes and mumbled "What a joke."

He stared off into the snow and saw that there was a trail of dog prints as he said "Balto,Jenna,Rosie,I'm on my way."

He went into valor form and used his increased speed to make a break for it and catch up to Balto.

However Steele wasn't knocked out for long as he soon woke up,and when he saw that he was the only one there,he yelled furiously "Go ahead run! You'll never get home anyway! I'll make sure of that!"

He had an idea in mind as he picked up Jenna's bandana and ran off into a patch of nearby woods and stared at some of Balto's marks in the trees.

He started laughing maniacally as he panted "I'll show them all! Why not this way? How about over here? Oops wrong way!" He started making marks in all the trees he could find as he had the full intention of making sure that Sora and Balto would stay lost.


	7. Chapter 7: A Wolf's Journey

Kingdom Hearts: Light Of Nome

Chapter 7: A Wolf's Journey

Their main quest that Sora and Balto started so long ago was now in the endgame,they had found the medicine and now that Steele was out of the way due to his ego trip,all they seemingly had to do was brave a terrible blizzard and make it home before the worst could happen.

Balto and his team seemed to be making decent progress thanks to Balto's markings and Sora wasn't too far behind them,but their increased speed as 4 legged animals made it increasingly hard for Sora to fully catch up,even to the point where he had to use quick run and the increased speed of Valor form nonstop which became tiring quickly,not to mention the lack of drive orbs in the area.

However Sora's progress would be brought to a screeching halt when he came across Steele's distraction of making a bunch of misleading marks in the trees,and to make things even worse,because of this Sora and Balto were now in entirely different areas of the forest as opposed to one just being further ahead.

Sora instantly stopped in his tracks to observe his surroundings and it didn't take very long for him to realize that it was Steele's doing as he angrily stated "Ugh,what is wrong with you Steele?! I gotta find a way out of here."

He started to quickly turn around in the hopes of seeing a hint of light from the medicine sled,but unfortunately there was no sight of it due to the snow and setting sun. However Sora did have a light bulb go off in his head when he looked up to the trees and realized "Hey,if I can climb up the trees,I can possibly spot Balto!"

He used aerial dodge and jumped highly into the branches of the tallest tree in the patch of woods he was in,and once he reached the tallest point he could possibly go,he was hypnotized by the sheer amount of trees and mountains stretching as far as the eye could see,but he quickly brushed it aside and tried to spot Balto.

Sora squinted his eyes and tried his hardest to make out a hint of light,but it was no use because of the thick snow storm until he got the idea to cast a giant fire spell that incinerated some of the snow which finally allowed him to spot Balto's sled in the north. He smiled and gave a sigh of relief as he said to himself "Balto,I'm on my way."

He jumped off the tree and jumped to the tops of the other trees one by one as that would be the quickest way to reach Balto while Balto and his team continued through the snow until they came across Steele's distraction. Balto stopped in his tracks and gasped in a panic "Oh no." as he saw all of Steele's markings in the trees,not to mention the fact that they were now at a fork in the road.

"Which way Balto,which way? Which way?" Star asked frantically from behind Balto to which he nervously stammered "Uh,this way." before he pulled them in the direction of the left road. As they ran through the freezing cold snow and forest,Balto soon stopped abruptly at the sight of another series of markings by Steele,which caused all the other dogs to be sandwiched into each other violently.

"Balto,why are you taking us in circles?" Kaltag asked in a semi frustrated voice to which Balto instantly shot back "I'm not! I mean,I don't know. Of course,it's Steele,what if Sora can't figure his way out either?"

"You hear this? Even the spikey haired kid could be lost,maybe we was better off with Steele there." Nikki remarked admits being sandwiched in between Star and Kaltag before Balto yelled sternly "No! Come on mush!" and started to run off again,but this time at an even greater speed than before. It was getting to the point where the other dogs were having trouble catching up to him as Star nervously pleaded "Balto,slow down!" but the wolf dog kept on going.

Balto was getting more and more nervous by the second and started to increase his speed ever so slightly,and seeing Steele's markings were even causing him to panic to which Nikki remarked "Hey,you're going too fast!"

Apparently Balto was going so fast that he would soon exit the patch of woods to be met with the edge of a hill that led to a gorge,Balto tried to stop but his speed combined with the steepness of the hill caused him along with the other dogs to slide down it at a incredible velocity. However just at the nick of time,Balto managed to keep them from falling off the cliff to the relief of the other dogs,but that relief wouldn't last for long as the box of medicine looked like it was about to fall off the sled as Nikki yelled "Look out!"

Balto took immediate defensive action and jumped down to where the medicine was and grabbed one of the straps with his teeth,just barely keeping it off the hill as Star yelled happily "All right! Good catch Balto!"

"There you are,are you guys okay?!" The dogs suddenly heard the voice of Sora call out to them as the team of dogs turned around to see Sora standing at the top of the hill. He went out of valor form and quickly told them of Steele's plan "Steele has been marking the trees one by one,we could be completely lost." to which Kaltag retorted "We noticed Einstein."

"Well I'm just looking out for the team!" Sora angrily retorted before the snow beneath Balto's feet started to crumble and cause him to start to fall off the cliff with the medicine,the other dogs started to panic and Sora yelled "Hold on Balto! I'm coming!"

Sora jumped down the hill and quickly grabbed Balto by the tail,but that wasn't enough to hold them and the medicine up and Sora came tumbling down with Balto before their world and vision faded to black.

* * *

Back in Nome,Donald,Goofy,Borris,Muk,and Luk were eavesdropping on the other dogs,who were having a discussion in the boiler room about the sled team's predicament.

Jenna,who was present with the dogs and was covering up in a blanket,was listening to one of the dog's concerns as he stated "I don't get it,how could Balto and Sora hope to find Steele and his team? They were off the trail!" to which Jenna tried to shed some positivity "Well they,they're tracking them."

"That mutt and spiky haired doofus? Tracking a championship team in a blizzard?!" Another one of the dogs made fun of Balto and Sora before he and the other dogs burst out into mocking laughter,while Jenna got an annoyed and angry look in her face.

The dog's hysterical laughter would be cut off however when the door to the boiler room slammed open,letting in a whole lot of wind and snow as Jenna perked up excitingly "Balto? Sora?"

However her enthusiasm would vanish in an instant when she and the other dogs realized that it was only Steele,who was covered in a thick layer of ice as they with the exception of Jenna greeted him with relief.

"Steele!"

"You're alive!"

"You're back!"

"Where ya been,are you okay?"

One of the dogs rolled Steele a bone to which he instantly jumped at it and started to chew at it,but not before one of the dogs asked out of surpise of seeing Steele's state "What happened to you?" and Steele made up a lie in a very heartfelt and depressed voice.

"Well,one by one they fell,frozen,barely alive." Steele started his blatant lie before he headed to the fire and shook off all of the ice as he continued "I pulled four onto the sled,three more on my back! And uh….I walked,and I walked,but i-it was just-it was too late. Ohh,they were-"

"What about the medicine?" One of the dogs interrupted Steele's melodrama to which he got slighty more nervous yet continued "Well,uh,I-I went on,d-dragging the medicine,alone,all -and then suddenly….that wolf dog and boy with the key appeared. Balto and Sora,th-they demanded I let them take the medicine. You know they,they just wanted so much to be heroes in your eyes,and th-they grabbed the crate,but they couldn't handle it. Th-they couldn't see the patch of ice-the snow,the wind and-and then the log and the cliff-well they,they just didn't have a ch-they just-I'm sorry."

Steele started to cry fake tears as the other dogs were clearly starting to fall for his lie while he continued "And then-" before he pulled out Balto's bandana that Jenna gave him as she gasped "My bandana."

Steele walked towards Jenna as she started to breath heavily and cry as Steele dropped the bandana in front of her and concluded "They…..made me promise to take care of you,Jenna." However Jenna's grief wouldn't last for long as she soon started to suspect that something was amiss,she started at the floor and at Kairi's good luck charm that Sora gave her and raised her head and got a disapproving scowl as she replied "You're lying."

The dogs started to gasp out of horror and disbelief as Steele started to show a hint of nervousness in his eyes and Jenna continued "Steele's lying. Balto and Sora are alive,and they're coming home." before she picked up the good luck charm and dashed out of the boiler room.

The other dogs started to question what was up with Jenna as Steele quickly made up another lie "Well,you know,she needs a little time. The loss of someone close to you can do that to someone. Poor thing."

* * *

Meanwhile Rosie's parents were at the hospital and grieving over the possible impending death of her,as slight fragments of darkness started to flow out of her mouth along with the other kids in the hospital. Rosie was as cold as the coldest ice and snow,and the darkness that was flowing from her and the kids made the already freezing hospital even colder with an unnerving and unsettling chill.

While the residents were starting to turn off their house lights for the night,Jenna could be seen hauling up a lit lantern up a hill,along with a mysterious pile of colored glass shards. She started to spread the glass shards very specifically and carefully,but once they were in the right position,she let the lantern shine on them causing them to emit a ginormous and beautiful arrangement of light and colors that resembled the northern lights. She gave off a sigh of relief and turned out to the horizon as she whispered "Balto,Sora,please hurry."

* * *

Speaking of the other two,Balto and Sora were buried under a large amount of snow due to their fall off the cliff,however Balto managed to slowly dig his way out of the snow. He saw Sora's hand sticking out of the snow a few feet away from him and dragged him out of the snow as he tried to wake him up "Sora? Sora! You gotta get up,Sora!" but to no avail. Sora was freezing cold and he seemed to show no signs of breathing as Balto started to breath heavily out of sadness and lay his head on Sora's body.

"Rosie. Sora." Balto whispered to himself in shame and defeat as he started to sniffle and cry silently,he started to think it was time for him to accept his fate and give into the unbearable cold until he noticed a pair of white paws standing in front of him. He lifted his head and eyes to be greeted by a white wolf with orange eyes seemingly blending in with the snow,the wolf lifted its head up high and howled loudly as Balto showed a small hint of fear at the wolf's presence.

Balto turned his head away from the wolf in utter defeat as the wolf started to slowly walk away from him and vanish into the snow,but Balto would soon find a sight he didn't expect to see,it was the medicine box sitting alone in the snow beneath the cliff unharmed. Balto took a look at the cliff side and when he realized that he could carry the medicine up the mountain,he instantly knew what he had to do as the encouraging words of Borris echoed in his head "Let me tell you something you two. A dog and a boy cannot make this journey alone,but maybe a wolf and a man...can."

Balto got a determined look in his face and turned around as he started to stand up from the snow proudly as he told the unconscious Sora "Sora,I'll finish this for you." and put his paw in one of the wolf's still visible paw prints. Balto finally accepted his heritage as a halfbreed with pride as he lifted his head up and let out a loud and proud wolf howl. The white wolf appeared once again in the snow and walked towards Balto as it joined in on his howling.

The other dogs,who were sitting on top of the cliff in defeat and shivering due to the cold,perked up in fear when they heard the distant howling of wolves as Nikki remarked nonchalantly "Things are not bad enough,now we got wolves."

"Wolves!" The other dogs shouted as they huddled up to each other in fear while Nikki walked over to the cliff and exclaimed "Hey over here!"

The other dogs headed over to the edge of the cliff and were shocked by what they saw,Balto was seen carrying up the crate of medicine all by himself as Nikki remarked "Balto? And he's got the medicine!" to which Star asked slightly more nervous "Wait a minute,where's Sora?"

"Come on Balto,youse can make it." Nikki yelled from atop the cliff as Nikki quickly complimented Balto's actions "That's the most amazing,fantastic,incredible-that's the most phenomenal-I-I never-"

"That's good!" Star interrupted Nikki's excited babbling before Nikki had enough and sat on Star's head,while Balto continued to climb up the mountain. The dogs continued to shout worrs of sheer encouragement as Balto continued to climb up the mountain,it was a hard and grueling experience for Balto,but he soon managed to make it to the top of the mountain as the dogs relieved him of the medicine.

"Yeah! You did it!"

"Congratulations! That was great! I couldn't have done that!" Nikki and Star exclaimed ecstatically while the other dogs loaded the medicine onto the sled,but Nikki was more confused by Sora's absence and asked "Hey Balto,where's Sora?"

Balto's happy and heroic smile turned to a saddened frown as he merely hung his head and didn't say a word. That was more than a dead giveaway to the dogs and the smiles of Star and Nikki went away as they hung their heads in sadness,despite them not knowing Sora for that long and giving him a really hard time when they first met.

The other dogs sat in silence for a few more moments before Balto stood up from the snow and stated more proudly "Sora wouldn't want us to sit around and let these kids die. He's been one of my closest friends since the past few days,and I will make sure this medicine gets to those kids if it's the last thing I do! Lets go!"

"Yeah!"The other dogs shouted and cheered in unison before they hooked themselves up to the sled and dashed off to the town as fast as they could,but little did they know that a slight hint of consciousness and life was still within Sora.

Sora found himself in the middle of a dark void,it wasn't the realm of darkness or the endless abyss,but he did feel a sense of dread and fear overcome him,until he heard what sounded like the very faint and muffled voice of Roxas call his name,despite Roxas not being present in the void.

"Who's there?" Sora asked out of confusion and eagerness to see who it was,but there was no response to be heard or found.


	8. Chapter 8: The Light Of Nome(Finale)

Kingdom Hearts: Light Of Nome

Chapter 8: The Light Of Nome(Finale)

Sora didn't know where he was after he fell off the cliff with Balto,all he remembered before hand was that he tried to prevent Balto from falling off the cliff with the medicine box,but that ended up failing and he ended up falling down with Balto in the process. Now he had no idea where he was,it wasn't the Realm Of Darkness,but it wasn't the Endless Abyss either,and now a mysterious boy he had never heard of before was suddenly calling out his name.

After Sora didn't get an answer from the supposed newfound entity,he slowly stood up and started to examine his now different environment as he called out loud enough so anyone could here "Hello!" which caused an echo,only to be once again met with no response. Sora groaned out of annoyance and started to walk around the pitch black void of darkness in the hopes of finding life,and he wasn't able to even walk a few feet before a dark portal suddenly appeared,Sora instantly thought it was the Organization and summoned the Keyblade and got into a battle stance,only for him to be surprised when a familiar yet new face stepped out.

The figure that slowly stepped out of the dark portal was a young boy that looked around Sora's age that sported yellow spiky hair,ocean blue eyes,and wore a white jacket and grey pants. Sora didn't know this boy,but he oddly enough recognized him and his name as he suddenoy bluttered out bewildered "Roxas?" before he covered his mouth in awe and put away the Keyblade.

Roxas slowly started to walk towards the now stunned boy boy as Sora stated when he recognized him "You,you're the boy from the photo." before he pulled out the photo he got from the ice cream box and showed it to Roxas,who was now mere inches away from Sora. Upon laying his eyes on the photo,Roxas's emotionless stare and eyes started to form a single tear that slowly rolled down his cheek as Sora silently gasped and asked "What's wrong?" to which Roxas replied "You should know what's wrong Sora."

Sora was obviously confused by this response since he didn't know that Roxas was indeed his nobody yet and stammered "Wait-wha?" but was cut off when Roxas suddenly held out his right hand and stated "You have to save them. You have to save them all." as he used his left hand to show Sora a vision of Rosie and the other kids that were still in the hospital.

Sora gasped out of shock at the sight and exclaimed in a panic "Oh no! How do I get out of here?! Me and Balto have to save-" but was cut off once again when Roxas shook his held out hand as a way for him to tell Sora that he wanted him to grab it to which he reluctantly did. As soon as Sora grabbed ahold of Roxas's hand,his eyes widened when he felt an immense feeling of power flow right into his heart as Roxas spoke one last time "For life and light,together we fight."

* * *

In the snowy field where Sora's body quietly lay,the ground around him started to quietly rumble and a bright light started to faintly glow around him as his clothes started to slowly fade in and out to the color white sporadically. After a few more moments of this 's eyes suddenly shot wide open as he was launched straight off the ground and into the air as a pillar of light touched the sky for at least 10 seconds. When the light finally managed to fade away,all that remained and hovered a few feet above the ground was a now fully awoken Sora that now sported white clothes with black streaks along them,Oathkeeper and Oblivion floating behind his back,and white glowing eyes. Sora had given into Final Form for the very first time with the help of Roxas,and he instantly used this new found power of his to jump high up into the air and back onto the cliff that he and Balto fell off of earlier,and then proceeded to glide right through the forest at nearly the speed of sound.

* * *

Meanwhile miles and miles away from Sora,Balto and his team had managed to make a great amount of distance thanks to Balto's increased confidence in himself from the white wolf that he saw,and when they inevitably came across more of Steele's fake markings,he was able to use his increased sense of smell as a wolf dog to find the right path back to Nome. Balto and his team had just gotten themselves past an ice bridge that hung high above a gorge,and they just barely made it across with their lives because the bridge had fakken apart when they were halfway across and had to make a very quick dash for the other side.

Nikki and the other dogs were trying to catch their breath due to the sudden sprint while Balto wasn't too fazed by it and was anxiously waiting for them to regain their posture as he told them "Hurry up you guys,we can't waste anymore time." before Nikki groaned and retorted "You try running that fast out of the blue!" to which Balto clapped back "I just did."

* * *

Once the other dogs managed to regain their breath,they all started to continue their journey back home,with Balto being unaware that his tail accidentally brushed Star's nose which caused him to sneeze very loudly and ended up causing an avalanche from one of the many mountains above them,and all the while they were unaware of it. As Balto and the other dogs slowly walked through another open gorge,Balto soon noticed the avalanche when he heard a very rumbling combing in from behind as he turned his head around to see a massive wall of snow and destruction heading right towards them as Balto gasped "Avalanche! Let's go guys!"

Balto and the other dogs bolted through the gorge as fast as their legs could carry themselves,with the tidal wave of snow just being mere feet away from them as Nikki panicked nearly out of breath "I need to go on a diet when we get back!" and Kaltag retorted from behind "I think you'll have already lost all those pounds by the time we get back!"

The snow was now starting to catch up to the team and all of them were now starting to lose their breath and get unfathomably sore and tired,but they knew they had to keep going despite it feeling like their bones were about to shatter if they took one more step. All the while unbeknownst to them,Sora from atop a nearby hill had seen that they were being chased by the snow as he yelled out loud in the hopes of them hearing "Balto I'm coming!" before he continued to glide through the forest to try and reach them. It seemed like the team was just about to collapse and let themselves and the medicine be consumed by the avalanche,but Balto in the corner of his eyes noticed the opening to a cave in the distance and told the other dogs "There's a cave over there! We can hide in there!"

The dogs tried as hard as they could to get to the cave,but their tired legs and bodies wouldn't allow them to reach the required speed to get to the cave in time as Star panicked "I don't think we're gonna make it!" to which Balto yelled "We have to keep going!" It seemed like they were just about to be fully consumed by the snow and have their journey come to an abrubt end,but just at the nick of time Balto saw a white clothed figure gliding right beside him at an incredible speed. It only took a few moments for him to realize that it was Sora as he gasped "Sora? You're alive?!" to which the boy sternly replied "You gotta get to the cave! I'll hold off the snow!" before Balto nodded his head and continued towards the cave with the other dogs.

Sora then stopped in his tracks and turned around to face the massive wall of snow by himself as he took a deep breath and used Oathkeeper,Oblivion,and all of the Keyblades he had earned up till that point to form a massive and powerful barrier that held back the snow and could hopefully give Balto enough time to get to the cave. However the sheer power and force of the snow was already causing the barrier to quickly wear and fall apart,Sora knew that it wasn't gonna last for much longer and looked behind him to see that the light from the lantern on top of the medicine box had faded away into the cave,Balto and his team had made it. Sora smiled and exclaimed "They did it!" before the barrier finally broke with a massive sonic boom,and he instantly used this opportunity to quickly glide towards the cave as fast as he could. Balto from inside the cave was looking out the entrance in the hopes of seeing Sora and when the dog saw that Sora was fastly approaching,he smiled and called out to him "Come on Sora! You can make it!" to which Sora replied "Get out of the way guys!" and Balto and his team did so.

After about 5 more seconds of waitng,Sora had finally made it to the cave and gilded right inside with the snow just barely consuming him as he then went out of Final Form and crashed into the cave walls. Balto gasped at the sight and unhooked himself from the sled as he dashed toward the now unconscious boy and tried to wake him up "Sora? Sora you gotta get up. Sora!"

Sora however wasn't waking up at all and Balto was starting to get increasingly more nervous that Sora wasn't gonna wake up,but Nikki however wasn't convinced that he was gone and disconnected himself from the sled as he reassured Balto "Don't worry I got this." before he loudly barked in Sora's face. Sora instantly woke up after this and yelled before he asked the brown dog "What was that for Nikki?" to which he and the other dogs merely laughed at the remark before Balto exclaimed in confusion "How did you get here Sora?! I thought you died when you fell off the cliff."

"I could ask you the same thing Balto,but I'm just glad you guys are alright." Sora smiled back and replied before Kaltag broke some bad news to them "Well we may not be alright after all,the snow's blocked the entrance to the cave." to which Sora and Balto groaned out of annoyance.

"Well I guess we'll have to get through the cave. We can't sit around and wait for that snow to melt." Balto sighed and stated before he and Nikki hooked themselves back up to the sled,and Sora added before they ventured off into the cave "Right,Rosie and the kids don't have much time left."

* * *

As Sora and the team slowly walked further and further into the cave,they noticed that it was becoming increasingly colder the further the went in,not to mention that the light from their one and only lantern was the only thing keeping the cave alit as Sora shivered and remarked "I hope we find a way out of here soon. I don't think we can survive much longer."

Balto was about to playfully retort at Sora's statement in the hopes of lighting up the mood,but he stopped when he saw something around the next corner in his peripheral vision. A few more steps later and the team would be amazed when they saw that they had now entered a different and more beautiful area of the cave. The new area they were in was now composed entirely of ice instead of snow and sparkled brightly due to little bits of sunlight slicing through cracks of the ceiling.

"Hey,look at this place." Balto remarked in sheer awe to which Sora and the other dogs gasped at the sight,and even Nikki playfully stated "Wow,we have to come back here some time."

As they slowly made their way through the frankly gorgeous scenery,Star noticed that some of the nearby ice pillars were causing his reflection to warp into nightmarish creations,one of which was an alien. The group continued to walk through the cave until both Balto and Sora felt a small piece of ice drop on both of them to which they looked up at the ceiling to see that there were very sharp rocks of ice that could fall off at any minute.

The group started to silently whisper to each other out of nervousness at the sight before Balto sternly shushed them "Shh!" and Sora added "Nobody. Make. A. Sound." Balto and the team started to continue onward with highly increased caution,but Balto's tail accidentally brushed Star's nose again and he was about to sneeze like he did before,but Nikki quickly held his nose with his paw so he wouldn't sneeze and make a loud noise. They soon made their way to a frozen lake in the middle of the cave and down a small hill as the dogs as well as Sora managed to make it down without any problems.

When they all made it down onto the ice Balto suddenly smiled and quietly whispered to the team "Hey,I see a way out. It's just down the lake." as Sora and the others gave a sigh of relief. However their relief wouldn't last very long,for they didn't take into account the sled that was still atop the hill and it ended up slamming down onto the lake with a very loud thud when they walked forward.

Balto and the team perked up as their stomachs churned at the sound,and just like they feared the noise was loud enough to cause some of the ceiling and rocks to give way,with the first pillar of ice just barely missing the medicine box.

Sora gasped out of shock at the sight and he along with the dogs looked up at the ceiling to see that more and more pillars were shortly following after it. Sora and the other dogs started to panic yet Balto was far too determined to give up and shouted "MUSH! SORA GET ON!" before he and the other dogs ran for their lives and for the exit as Sora got on what available space there was of the sled. Balto and the team ran down the ice as fast as they could but that was proving to be fairly difficult since they as well as the sled were sliding out of control due to being on solid ice,with Sora just barely managing to hang on. However they were thankfully able to avoid most of the falling rocks because Sora used Fire magic and even Strike Raid to destroy the ones that came close to them.

The constant swerving of the dogs as well as the sled had gotten to the point where the sled itself slammed very hard into a nearby rock and caused a large crack in the box. Sora instantly saw this and shouted in a panic "Balto the medicine!" to which Balto turned around to see that some of the medicine bottles were falling out and breaking,Balto gasped at the sight and called out to Sora "You gotta keep that thing shut Sora! We can't lose a single one of them!"

"I got an idea!" Sora enthusiastically replied before he went into wisdom form and jumped off the sled as he skated on the ice,due to this he was able to grab the medicine bottles that were falling out and put them back inside before they could break,all the while parkouring and sliding past the falling ice rocks in the process. Once Sora managed to get all the medicine bottles back in the box,he cast blizzard on the open crack as a way for it to stay shut as he exclaimed "Got it!" and got back on the sled to which Balto replied "Nice going Sora! The exit's just up ahead we can make it!"

The exit to the cave was nearly out of their grasp now,they kept running and running as fast as they could and Sora continued to get rid of the falling pillars. In the end,this display of teamwork and strategy paid off because only a few moments later were they able to finally reach the exit,and how lucky they were because the entire ceiling and cave collapsed in on itself only a few moments after.

* * *

Meanwhile back in the nearly dead and quiet town of Nome,the kids in the hospital were unfortusntky on their last breath. There was no use trying to hide it anymore,the medicine as well as the dog sled team was probably lost out in the wilderness,and their was no other shipment or dogsled team they could send. Many of the parents were sitting by their kid's beds and slowly waiting for the inevitable to take it's course,and unfortunately the same could be said for Roise's parents although Jenna,Donald and Goofy were present as well. Donald and Goofy didn't say a single word to any of them because even they knew that they needed some quiet time with their kid as Jenna somberly lay on Roise's bed.

Muk,Luk and Borris were laying outside in the boat and mourning over the fact that Balto and Sora hadn't returned yet as they used a nearby blanket to cover themselves up with,and even Borris laid on top of Muk despite him showing resentment towards the two polar bears. A few more moments had passed and Borris was about to keel over and fall asleep due to the cold and time of night,but something happened next that he wasn't expecting in the slightest,it was very faint yet still audible. It was a wolf's howl.

Borris instantly perked up at the sound and quietly questioned "Balto? Sora?" as he turned around to see that Balto and his team were rapidly approaching the town since they saw Jenna's northen light signal.

"They're back!" Borris happily exclaimed at the sight as Balto let out a loud and proud howl that seemed to echo for miles on end,and even Jenna from inside the hospital could here it as she perked up and happily barked over and over again to which Roise's parents as well as Donlad and Goofy got up and looked outside the window.

"They're back!" Roise's parents exclaimed out of surprise as well as did the other residents of the town when they could hear Balto's howling from their homes. Pretty soon the entire town was awoken and their sense of hope was fully reborn as they turned the signal light back on from the post office.

* * *

Meanwhile in the boiler room,Steele was still busy telling the other dogs his continuous lies about how he got back home and what happened out in the woods,and it seemed like the dogs were unfortunately still eating it up as Dixie and Sylvie continuously fawned over the "hero" dog.

"Of course you know,I swam and I swam. It was freezing cold and right then and there I finally told myself "Steele,you're gonna have to gnaw your way to the surface." So I-what?" Steele stated as he chewed on a bone before he was suddenly interrupted by Balto's sudden howling,as well as the door to the boiler room slamming opening to reveal one of the dogs announcing "Its Balto and Sora,with the medicine." as the other dogs gasped at the revelation.

It was all finally over,Steele was finally exposed for the manipulative and self centered monster that he truly was,and he could feel his stomach churn as soon as the dog said the word "Balto",but he still tried to pass himself off as a genuine nice guy as he smiled at Dixie in the hopes of her being on his side.

"Steele,you are positively disposable!" Dixie yelled out of pure anger and hatred for her formal idol as she smacked the black dog in the face and knocked the bone out of his mouth and onto the floor,where all the other dogs were angrily glaring and growling at the once former hero.

"O-okay,okay,I can explain." Steele tried to find some way to explain himself and his actions,but he was now stuck in a corner he couldn't get out of as the dogs merely ignored his pleading and slowly walked out of the boiler room as they sent a handful of insults his way.

"You guys weren't there so you don't-wait a minute guys,wait just a sec-please?" Steele continuously tried to earn their sympathy and support,but it wasn't gonna happen as Dixie slammed the door shut behind her and the other dogs,leaving Steele alone in the boiler room. Steele was left absolutely speechless and in utter confusion as to how this could have happened as he continued to stare at the now shut door without saying another word. However as he continued to stare at the door,his confusion and disappointment about being revealed for who he was started to melt away into pure and unfathomable anger as he gritted his teeth as hard as he could and screamed "NOOOOOOOOO!" before he yanked the bone off the floor and through it into the fire.

Steele's anger then started to turn into a full on temper tantrum as he started to destroy what he could of the boiler room and turn it into an absoulte mess,he made countless scratch marks on the fireplace,shredded some of the nearby hay stacks with his claws,and he even made a small hole in the boiler room dor. Soon the boiler room was a complete mess and Steele was sitting in the middle of the rubble and angrily and heavily breathing before he started to become more controlled and calmed down.

After Steele managed to calm himself down a little,his attention would then be directed to a dark portal that appeared by the fireplace,and out walked Saix once again as Steele's eyes widened and he angrily asked the man "What do you want now?" only for Saix to smile devilishly.

* * *

The residents of Nome were now anxiously making their way out of their homes and to the hospital as Balto and the team quickly ran down the streets of the town and made it back to the hospital. Their journey after all this time had finally reached it's conclusion as Sora gave a deep sigh of relief when he saw the townspeople unloading the medicine from the sled,but he was also surprised when he saw that the townspeople were now praising Balto endlessly as they were now petting him like a loving owner does to their own dog. Balto was very confused and startled by this sudden affection he was receiving,because practically all of his life he had been seen as nothing but a nuisance and an outcast by all the people he came across,but then he started to remember kind and loving people like Roise and Sora as the dog gave Sora a very heartfelt smile.

However it wasn't just the townspeople that were happily greeting the wolf dog,because Balto's attention would be quickly diverted up to the sky when he saw Borris fly down fast and give him a very big hug as he laughed "NOT DOG! NOT WOLF! YOU'RE A HERO!" before he kissed him on the head endlessly.

Muk and Luk also came running down the street as Borris yelled out of fear before the two polar bears grabbed Balto and gave him a very big hug as well. Once Balto was able to get free of Muk and Luk's tight grasp,Sora got down from the sled and walked up to them as Borris soon noticed his presence and surprisingly complimented him "I have to admit Sora,you're a good guy after all." to which Sora replied "Thanks Borris."

Sora then tried to give Borris a hug of his own but before he could even touch Borris,the goose recoiled back sternly started "If you lay one finger on me I'll kill you!" to which Sora laughed at the remark that Borris and Balto soon joined in.

While Sora and the others shared a good laugh at Borris's remark,Sora would soon be startled when he suddenly heard Donald and Goofy shout his name in unison before he was suddenly tackled onto the ground by them.

"Donald! Goofy!" Sora happily shouted as Donald and Goofy pinned him on the ground and hugged him tightly,with the townpeople,Muk,Luk,Borris,Balto and the other dogs watching happily. It all seemed like a happy ending to each and every one of them,Steele was finally revealed as the monster he truly was,the medicine was finally brought home and the kids could be saved,but that happy ending would soon be interrupted when Sora as well as the whole town heard a familiar voice suddenly ask "Well what do we have here?"

Sora instantly recognized that voice and whipped out the keyblade as he got off from the ground and angrily called out to the entity "Get out of here nobody! It's over! You lost!" to which the man coldly replied "Oh I'm not done here just yet Sora. After all…" before Saix appeared out of a dark portal in the street and concluded "I still have a mission to complete,and it seems that I'll have to do it myself."

The townspeople started to panic at the sight of the man who had just nearly killed their kids and the town dogs started to angrily growl at the man as Sora realized what he meant by "I'll have to do it myself." and yelled "You will not lay a finger on those kids!" to which Saix gave no response and instead whipped out his Lunar Staff.

Sora,Donald and Goofy got into their battle stances and the boy told the crowd of townspeople behind him "You all gotta get that medicine inside fast! He's gonna try and kill the kids himself!" to which the town's local doctor nodded his head and quickly brought the medicine inside with the help of the townspeople.

Once all the townspeople were safely inside the hospital with the medicine,all that stood in Saix's way were now Sora,Donald,Goofy,Balto,Borris,Muk,Luk,and the other dogs,but Saix showed no fear or intimidation from them and proceeded to slowly walk to the hospital door.

"Let's take him down!" Sora yelled before he ran up to Saix and was just about to strike him with the Keyblade,but the man saw through his strategy and shouted "Moon shine down!" before a blue aura surrounded him and his eyes glew bright yellow as he deflected Sora's attack with his staff. Sora flew back far due to the attack and Donald and Goofy tried to attack as well,Goofy tried to throw his shield at Saix but he deflected it back at Goofy knocking him out temporarily. Donald tried to cast a massive thunder spell but Saix merely absorbed it since he was in in berserker form due to the moon and threw Donald back with a mere swing of his staff.

"Guys!" Balto shouted at the sight before Saix suddenly appeared in front of him and swiped him away with a powerful strike before Borris,Muk,Luk and the other dogs gasped and tried to back them up by standing in front of their limp bodies,however Sora had a different idea and firmly told them "Borris,you guys how to guard the kids and the medicine with your life!"

"But we can't just leave you fellers out here with this psycho!" Borris retorted and insisted that Sora let them help,but Sora persisted that they go inside as he smiled while he slowly stood up "Don't worry,if you are all my friends,then you'll all be here with me."

After a few more moments,Borris and the other animals smiled at Sora's confidence as the goose sternly told the other animals "Alright you furballs,we got a hospital to guard!" before they ran inside and guarded the front door,no one was getting in or out until Saix was gone. Once it was just Sora,Balto,Donald and Goofy outside,he cast Curaga on his entire team as they slowly stood up from the snow and looked Saix dead on.

Sora and his team quickly rushed towards Saix with the intent to strike him with a full on team attack,but Saix wasn't gonna let them win that easily and smiled before he slammed his staff down on them and their weapons,causing a massive pile of snow to fly off the ground and into the air due to the impact. However Sora and the others weren't exactly through yet as Sora managed to hold the staff up with the Keybalde,Balto did the same with his teeth,and Donald and Goofy did the same with their weapons.

"The moon's power will triumph over you. Give this up now!" Saix shouted as he increased the power of his berserker form and slowly started to overpower the team,Sora's arms started to writhe in pain due to the strain of the staff,and Balto's teeth started to slowly crack as well as they all screamed in pain. It seemed like Saix was about to finally overpower them and finish them off for good,but suddenly Sora's keyblade started to faintly glow a yellow light and they slowly started to overpower Saix as he questioned in confusion "What?"

Sora and his team were somehow regaining their strength and their pain seemed to be slowly fading away as they were now at the same height as Saix and his berserker form,and soon after Sora slowly yelled over what remaining pain there was in his arms "My…...friends…..are…..our…..power!" before they all yelled loudly and launched Saix far away with a loud sonic boom as well as a howl from Balto.

The people and animals in the hospital were all stunned by the sudden noise and anxiously looked out the window to see that Sora and the others had indeed triumphed over the intruder. Saix was now laying down on the snow covered ground in absolute shock as he noticed that the force of their attack had shattered his lunar staff,and that he sensed no darkness left inside of Balto whatsoever.

"So…..he's pure light now." Saix disappointedly thought to himself as he slowly stood back up and threw away his staff onto the ground bedore Sora angrily looked him in the eyes before he said "Now you can-"

"Sora,I got this." Balto interrupted Sora's statement before he slowly started to walk towards Saix,and once the man and the dog were mere inches away from each other,Balto looked up at the man and coldly commanded him "Get out,and never come back."

Saix slowly smiled at Balto's request and opened up a dark portal as he slimly obliged "Alright,you win. However I do hope that you find our…..parting gift. It's something you may find more…..personal." before he slowly stepped backwards into the portal and vanished from sight with one last echo "Goodbye Balto."

"Good riddance." Balto smugly stated as Sora,Donald,and Goofy walked up to him to happily congratulate the wolf dog.

"Way to go Balto!"

"I knew you could do it!"

"You sure told him alright!" The trio continued to congratulate Balto as Borris and the other dogs headed back outside and asked "Is he gone?" to which Balto happily replied "He's gone,he's never coming back." and Borris exclaimed out of excitement "Woo Hoo! No more spikey haired clowns!"

"Hey I'm right here!" Sora replied in anger as Borris turned to him and nervously apologized "You're okay in my book. Even if you do look like a porcupine."

"I do not!" Sora retorted to which Balto surprisingly agreed with Borris "Actually you kinda do Sora." as Sora groaned in annoyance and the group laughed at Sora's expense,unaware that the crowd of townspeople had exited the hospital and were now back outside.

Balto would then be startled when Rosie's father suddenly patted him on the head and told him "Come on boy,there's someone who wants to see you." before he turned to Sora and added "You too son."

Sora was frankly confused by Rosie's sudden desire to see him and Balto,but Goofy however encouraged him to go with the man as he comfortingly told him "Go on Sora." to which he reluctantly joined Balto and the man. When they all entered the hospital,the two heroes were very glad to see that all of the kids had been given their medicine and were saved from Saix's attack as Sora sighed and remarked "You know,I don't think I've felt this good since…you know what never mind."

* * *

Once they reached Rosie's room and bed,they were also happy to see that she had woken up and was as happy as she could despite her still being very tired and exhausted. Sora and Balto smiled at the display and at each other before Balto saw Rosie's hat sitting on a nearby chair and grabbed it with his teeth as he slowly walked up to Rosie.

When the girl noticed Balto's presence,she broke free of her mother's hug and happily greeted Balto before she hugged him lovingly "Balto,I'd be lost without you.",however she also noticed Sora as well and told her parents "He's the one who saved me from the monsters the other day." to which her father chuckled and replied "We know Roise."

Sora smiled and slowly walked up to Rosie's bed as he quietly greeted her "Hey Roise." to which the doctor looked up at him and stated "You and Balto have done so much for this town,we are forever indebted to you young man." as Sora got red in the face and nervously replied "Hey it's no big deal,it's just something we thought we oughta do."

"We?" The doctor asked for clarification on what that meant to which Sora clarified as he grabbed a hold of Balto "Me,my friends,and Balto. He's been treated so bad all his life and….he's kinda my friend." before Rosie happily told Balto "Balto,you're a hero."

Balto slowly smiled at Rosie's remark and back at Sora before he suddenly noticed that Jenna was standing outside the doorway and smiling at Balto to which he happily said "Jenna." before he ran back outside to greet her as they barked and pranced for a few moments. However they would suddenly be startled when the tips of their noses touched each other before Jenna rubbed her head against Balto's,therefore signifying a hug. Sora happily gasped at the display as Jenna and Balto slowly smiled at each other,it seemed that they were finally a couple. Jenna soon noticed that Sora was standing at the doorway and smiling at them as she happily called out "Sora!" before she ran up to him and rubbed her head against him.

"You're back." She quietly remarked under her own tears of joy as Sora patted her on the head and replied "Hey I promised that I would be back." to which Jenna suddenly gasped like she just remembered something and gave Sora back Kairi's good luck charm as she stated "This...really helped me get through this. Thanks Sora". Sora starred at the star shaped charm that Kairi gave to him so long ago and smiled before he put it back in his pocket as he thanked her "No problem. Thanks Jenna."

The trio's attention would suddenly be diverted to the massive crowd of people and animals that were cheering Balto and Sora on as Star happily exclaimed "Way to go Balto! You too Sora!" and Kaltag fastly added "They have the most endurance,the most fidelity,the most intelligence-"

"They should build a statue of them!" Star interrupted Kaltag's babbling as the dog bumped into him and surprisingly agreed with him "You said it!" to which Star questioned in awe "I did?" and Kaltag smiled back at him.

* * *

A few more hours later and after the whole town happily celebrated Balto and Sora's grand return with a huge party,the kids were finally allowed to be let out of the hospital and sent off to their homes one by one,they still weren't fully recovered yet,but they were at least healthy enough to be released for the time being. Rosie was the last kid to be let out of the hospital and there was still a bit of a crowd outside the hospital so they could see the kids off to their homes,but just as Rosie was about to leave the hospital for good,she suddenly perked up and frantically told her parents "Wait I forgot my hat!"

Sora was about to go in and get it himself,but Balto suddenly offered "I got it Sora." before he ran inside the still lit hospital. As Sora and the others were waiting for Balto to come back out,Donald and Goofy slowly walked up to Sora as Goofy curiously asked him "So I guess we'll be heading off soon then?" to which Donald replied "Yeah,we were here for a long time."

Sora however didn't seem too enthusiastic to leave just yet as he replied and questioned "Yeah I guess we'll have to,but I'm still confused by something. Before that nobody left,he said that he left a parting gift here for Balto. What do you think he meant by-"

Sora's intrigue filled pondering would however be sharply and loudly interrupted when he as well as the entire town heard a massive boom akin to a thunderclap and felt the ground violently rumnle,and it didn't take too long for them to figure out where it came from. Sora and the crowd diverted all their attention to the hospital to see that it had somehow burst into flames,all the windows were now broken and shattered,and worst of all,Balto still hadn't come out yet.

Sora as well as the entire crowd gasped in shock and sheer horror as Donald yelled "What was that?!" and Goofy added "I thought we got rid of all the heartless and nobodies!" to which Jenna exclaimed in a panic "Balto! He's still in there!"

"Don't worry I'll get him!" Sora replied and reassured the now panicking Jenna before he quickly darted into the now falling apart hospital,Donald and Goofy tried to follow after him but some falling debris from the ceiling had unfortunately blocked the front door after Sora ran inside. Luckily since all the kids and hospital workers had been released beforehand,there were no casualties to be found…..hopefully. As Sora slowly walked through the burning hospital,he saw that the inside had become a complete yet strange mess,all of the walls had massive claw marks,there seemed to be blood droplets on the floor as if someone had gotten into a fight,and that he somehow felt abnormally cold despite him being in a burning building.

"Oh no." Sora nervously gasped when he saw the sheer amount of damage and destruction on display before he called out for Balto,only to be met with no response from anywhere. Sora was getting more and more nervous by the second at the possibility that Balto may have died in the explosion,but in the back of his mind he knew that he had to find him,whether he was a corpse or not. Pretty soon Sora found himself in the doctor's main office and he called out for Balto once again,but he would then be surprised when he saw the silhouette of a dog like figure in the black smoke.

"Balto?" Sora quietly called out to the figure in the hopes of it being his friend,however he would be disappointed yet surprised when he saw Steele slowly walk out of the smoke. The first thing that Sora noticed was that Steele looked far more menacing and monsterous than he had ever seen him before,his fur was a much darker shade of black than it already was,his green eyes were now glowing yellow around the iris,his claws and teeth were much sharper than before too,and his body build was less of a dog and more like a werewolf. It almost resembled Balto's dark form from the day that the race happened.

"Hey Sora." Steele greeted Sora in a surprisingly optimistic manner that further pushed the idea that he had entirely lost his mind,but Sora showed no interest in Steele's psychotic mannerisms and asked him sternly "Where's Balto?"

Steele pointed his head towards the ground and to the left to reveal that Balto was laying down with Roise's hat in the corner unconscious and pinned down by a fallen shelf,his fur was very mangled and there were also very small drops of blood on the floor and by him.

"Balto?!" Sora nervously called out to him in the hopes of him getting up to which Steele groaned somewhat annoyed "Relax he's fine,you know you idiots have reduced me to nothing by the way."

"We're getting out of here Steele." Sora stated in a somewhat intimidating tone to which Steele calmy objected "No,you're not." and Sora pleaded as he tried to negotiate "Look you can have all the glory about the medicine okay just let me save my friend."

"After everything you two have done?" Steele laughed at Sora's pleading and insistence that he let them live before he continued much more coldly "How noble of you...but no."

"If we stay here any longer we're all dead,is that what you want?"

"Now are you trying to shift the gears here Sora? I….am the hero of this town,I will do whatever it takes to make sure it stays that way." Steele asked as he was starting to slowly but surely get more and more angry by the minute before he concluded "Ever since you and your two cronies have gotten here you have been nothing but a thorn in my side,you tried to do my job for me and it's high time you learned your place!"

Sora's heart was starting to violently pound and his stomach was now churning due to Steele's threatening words and tone of voice,but he did manage to choke up a response with "Look Steele we can talk about this when we get outside-"

"Sora,just shut up!" Steele interrupted Sora's negotiation as he got into a battle pose,and Sora reluctantly summoned the Keyblade. He hated Steele's guts granted,but he didn't want to fight him yet he knew he probably had to.

"Seriously Steele this is insane even for you." Sora panicked as he slowly walked around the office to which Steele retorted "You wanna hear insane? Sora and his two freinds saved Agrabah from the hands of Jafar!" before he lunged at Sora with razor sharp teeth,but Sora managed to dodge the attack.

"Sora and his two friends,saved all the worlds from Ansem The Seeker Of Darkness!" Steele continued before he lunged at Sora once again,but Sora managed to dodge it once again as he pleaded "Come on Steele,stop!" before Steele continued "Sora and his friends,stopped the sea witch Ursula from taking over the ocean!"

"Look I get it you don't like us very much." Sora nervously stammered as he continued to dodge Steele's attacks before he grabbed a hold of Steele's paw with the intent to try and stop him,but Steele managed to break free and pounce onto Sora as he pinned him on the ground. Steele then tried to bite Sora in the neck but he used the Keyblade to hold his teeth and mouth off him as Steele yelled through it "I have sacrificed everything to get here,and I'm not gonna let a few two bit meddlers,and a wolf/dog outcast take it away from me!"

Sora managed to get himself free of Steele as he yelled "Get off!" and went into limit form before he launched Steele through the office wall with Sonic Blade,once Steele managed to regain his posture and get back into his battle stance,he viciously growled "You care about those three losers so much,I'm gonna make sure they join you."

Steele then made a quick dash towards Sora and tried to swipe at him with his large claws,but Sora managed to dodge roll out of the way and follow up with strike raid. Steele was flown back into another wall due to the attack and it also ended up causing some of the ceiling to fall apart.

Once Steele managed to get himself out of the wall,he made another dash towards Sora but this time Sora guarded his attacks with the Keyblade like that of a sword fight. Pretty soon it seemed like Sora had the upper hand and managed to pin Steele in front of another wall as the dog maniacally laughed "Now that's the Sora I've heard so much about!" before Sora fully pinned him against the wall and angrily stated "We're done here,I'm getting Balto out and we're leaving,if you wanna stay here then be my guest."

"You got me." Steele calmy seemed to admit his defeat,but it was nothing more than a lie because as soon as Sora's guard was let down,he instantly swiped at Sora's stomach and smacked the keyblade out of his hands before he threw Sora onto the ground,unaware that it landed by a now slowly awaking Balto. Now heavily wounded,Sora couldn't find any strength inside him to summon back the keyblade,and all he could do now was nervously back away from Steele as the dog menacingly asked him "You know what Sora? Underneath all the bravado you're just a sad little boy,with delusions of grandeur. Oh who by the way can't fight for his life."

Steele was finally about to put an end to Sora with one last swipe of his claws as he bid Sora farewell "So long my friend." but Balto suddenly intervened and shouted "Sora!" before he used his free foot to kick the keyblade over to Sora. Sora instantly grabbed the keyblade and cast a reflect shield before Steele could attack him. Steele however wasn't phased by this or the attacks that followed from him attacking the shield and continued to bash at it continuously as he laughed "You don't know when to quit do you?! That's good,don't hand it to me,I have had everything handed to me on a large silver platter. Everything! Except,for this!"

Steele finally managed to break through Sora's shield and was about to finish him off for good,but not before he looked down at the cowering boy and smiled "I earned this. All of it." However Sora noticed that a chandelier above them was just barely hanging off the ceiling by a single thread,and that gave Sora an idea as he told Steele "You want the glory Steele? It's all yours." before he quickly aimed the keyblade and threw it up at the chandelier,cutting the thread and sending it tumbling down. Sora immediately rolled out of the way while Steele merely looked up at the ceiling to see what was falling down,however it was already too late for him as just a single second later,the chandelier crushed Steele in an instant. Steele was no more.

"Oh man." Sora nervously remarked as he observed the now large pile of rubble,but now wasn't the time to reminisce about Steele,because now was the time to get Balto out and escape the burning hospital. Sora wasted no time and cast zero gravity on the fallen shelf so it would lift up into the air,and give Balto enough time to get out. Sora then cast Cure on Balto and pulled him out of the rubble before he yelled "Let's get out of here! There's an open window over there!" and pointed to an open window in the office to which Balto agreed "Yeah." before he grabbed Rosie's hat and handed it to Sora.

* * *

Sora and Balto managed to crawl out the office window and make it back outside,and it seemed that the fire department had finally made it to the hospital and were putting out the fire as the town watched in awe. Once Sora and Balto headed back to the crowd,their friends happily greeted them out of relief that they weren't hurt in the fire as Jenna and Rosie hugged Balto tightly,and Donald and Goofy did the same to Sora. Once the fire was finally put out,Jenna walked towards Balto and Sora and asked them "What caused the fire?" to which Sora replied "It was Steele. He was too obsessed with getting the glory,and it ended up destroying him."

"Steele is nothing but a treacherous snake!" Dixie angrily joined in the conversation when she overheard it to which Balto agreed "He was annoying I'll give him that." and Sora added in relief "I'm just glad he's gone now."

"Steele? More like rusted iron!" Borris insulted Steele and joined in the conversation which resulted in a big laugh from the group.

"Oh yeah!" Sora exclaimed when he suddenly remembered that he was still holding Rosie's hat and hadn't given it back as he headed over to Rosie and her parents and gave her back her hat.

"Thank you Sora,I couldn't live without this hat." Rosie thanked Sora and gave him a small hug before she tried to grab the hat and put it on,only for it suddenly glow a faint light and float up in midair as Rosie and the others gasped at the display. It didn't take very long for Sora to realize that it meant another gate was opening and that they had to leave this world and go to another. Like in all the other worlds he had been to up till that point,the environment around him slowly changed into an empty void with black and white clouds as a ray of light shot out of Rosie's hat and formed into the shape of a keyhole to which Sora jumped back and shot a ray of light into the keyhole,effectively opening another highway. Once the keyhole was finally unlocked,a large barrage of light leaked out of it as it returned the environment to what it once was.

"What was that all about?" Balto asked in confusion to which Sora regretfully replied "We kinda have to go now." as Donald added "Yeah,we've been here a long time." and Goofy added even further "A new highway is open."

Balto and the others groaned in disappointment at the revelation that their friends were now leaving,but Sora smiled and tried to lighten up the mood as he reassured them "Hey we'll be back one day,won't we guys?" to which Donald and Goofy ecstatically nodded their heads.

"Promise." Rosie asked timidly as she wiped away a tear from her eye to which Sora kneeled down on his knees and reassured her "Promise." before he made a cross over his heart and they hugged each other.

"So long guys. It's been a lot of fun despite the cold,the bear,and Steele being Steele." Sora bid Balto and the others farewell and was just about to hit the road with Donald and Goofy,but Balto and Jenna suddenly stopped them in their tracks as Balto called out to them "Hey hold on a second!" and Jenna added "There's something we gotta tell you."

Balto and Jenna ran up to the trio and Sora asked them out of intriuge "What's up?" to which Balto nervously stammered "I just wanna say…..thanks….for….for everything. When you first came here,I was a loser,a nobody and an outcast,but you saw something in me and it made me feel like I was wanted. And now…...I actually am wanted. I couldn't have done it without you Sora." and Jenna added "Thanks for everything Sora,Doanald,Goofy. If it wasn't for you guys and Balto,I don't think Rosie would still be alive. Come back soon ok?"

"Hey it's no problem. Besides I think you two lovebirds could use some time alone."

Sora,Donald and Goofy were now at the outskirts of the city and were heading out for the final time,but not before Sora turned around and waved all the others goodbye to which they all returned the favor. Once they were back in the Gummi Ship,Goofy sighed somewhat somberly as Sora asked "What's wrong Goofy?" to which he asked "Do you think we'll actually be back?" and Sora reassured him confidently "Of course we will. When I make a promise,I'll keep it to the end. Besides,maybe while we're gone Balto and Jenna will have puppies,and I'm sure they'll probably wanna see the hero who helped their father save the town."

"I think you mean junior hero Sora." Donald smiled and smugly corrected him before Sora confidently retorted "Wait till Phil hears about this,he'll have to make us heroes in a heartbeat." as they blasted off in the Gummi Ship and proceeded to make their way towards The Land Of Dragons.

*In the end credits of Kingdom Hearts 2,there is a short mini movie of Rosie covering Balto's eyes as they walked through the town. Winter had now passed and turned into spring as the bitter cold was now a relaxing and warm breeze. Once Rosie finally uncovered his eyes,Balto gasped in awe when he saw that the entire town had built a statue of him,Sora,Donald,and Goofy in the town square as the entire town starred at it happily,including Borris,Muk,Luk,Nikki,Kaltag,Star and the other dogs. Sometime later it is shown that Balto is playing with him and Jenna's puppies on the beach,one of which is a white wolf dog like him.*


End file.
